The Fast and the Furious New Meiji Style
by Gumi Reloaded
Summary: Sequel to It's Off to Work I Go. A fast car, serious girl talk, some fun, time with the children, a Kat fight (the Major's sister kind of Kat), family time, and in the last chapter a very beat up Wolf returns home to his family (after the Gumi-Reloaded story, The Wolf at Work II)
1. Chapter 1 Not Lookin' For Adventure?

**The Fast and the Furious New Meiji Style**

**A Gumi Reloaded Story**

**by**

**Mighty Mighty Munson (writes Karen, Katsu, and Saitoh)**

**Anreg (writes Tokio)**

**If you want to read what happened to this duo before this story, go to It's Off to Work I Go.**

**Date:** 8 February,

**Time**: Late Afternoon, Early Evening

**Place:** New Meiji City Express Highway, New Meiji Children's Academy, Casa de Saitoh

**Characters:** Tokio, Karen Watanabe, Tstutomu and Tsuyoshi, A smokin' hot sport scar, good quality chocolate and the She Beast, known by some as Saitoh's older sister, and the Wolf himself makes an appearance towards the end.

"**Behind every successful woman is a tribe of other successful women who have her back." **

**Chapter 1 - Not Lookin' For Adventure? It May Find You!**

**Current Mood**: cheerful

**Current Location**: The girls are booking it - try and keep up!

**KAREN WANTANABE**, Third Squad Captain

"What is the purpose of having a car like this," Captain Watanabe's synth box was incapable of vocal modulation. Even so, the 3rd Squadron Captain seemed annoyed, "when we can't average over 50 kilometers an hour?"

Takagi-san had just asked about her four wheeled pride and joy and Karen was more than happily to oblige.

Watanabe looked over at her passenger and the left side of her mouth quirked up into a smile, "My youngest son, Hiroshi, always gives me hell about "earthly attachments"", the police officer made air quotes, "he's a Buddhist monk, so perhaps he knows what's he's talking about."

The sleek, red sports car moved forward a few dozen meters, then stopped again, mired in the heavy traffic of the New Meiji city commute. It was beautiful and fast, barely street legal, and had a huge engine and enough horsepower to float a battleship.

"My husband and I had very few things in common, Takagi-san," Karen smoothly changed lanes and the car was able to move forward, perhaps a hundred meters this time, "we loved our children, each other and were both hopeless gear heads. From the time I met that crazy man, he always talked about how someday, when he retired and had saved up enough credits, he'd get a car like this. It was his dream and as time passed it became mine as well."

The car slowed to a stop again and Karen relaxed into the hand stitched leather seats. "He was also a cop, and a good one, even if he erred on the side of being far too serious and was always scowling about one thing or another. I think you would have really liked him," Karen added slyly.

She switched lanes again and was able to accelerate up to 40 kilometers an hour then to 50 and the car's carefully tuned systems purred as she expertly shifted into second gear. Manual transmissions were extremely rare now in New Meiji and had been on the decline for the past fifty years, which was a pity, since the innate handling in the hands of a skilled driver, still outperformed modern day automatic pressure gears.

"I let our dream die right along with him after he was killed in the line of duty," Karen spotted an opening in the left-side lane and took it, easing the imported sports car into a spot where she could maneuver through the gridlock and get to the outlying precincts of New Meiji, where Saitoh's children were still in school with time to spare, "until a syndicate hit took out 15 of the city's finest and injured twenty more, myself included."

Karen changed lanes again. She was nearly to the ramp that would take her and the woman in the passenger's seat up to the higher tiers of highways that were able to accommodate high load and high speed vehicles, "After getting out of the hospital and getting used to the implants, I decided that I'd put my life on hold long enough. I sold the house along with everything in it and bought the damn car."

She put on her blinker, merged up onto the acceleration ramp, and then as soon as an opening in the high traffic lane appeared, she punched the accelerator. The V12 engine roared to life and the vehicle took up with enough speed and force that both she and Takagi-san were pushed back into the racing seats. Karen grinned, her artificial eye gleaming in the late afternoon light, "I've never looked back or regretted my decision to actually try and really LIVE what measure of life I have left, even if my son, the monk, is right and I end up being reincarnated as a mal-tempered dung beetle because of my wicked ways."

She laughed, the sound a burst of high-pitched electronic static, and in seconds, the car had accelerated to over 250 kilometers an hour, nowhere close to the car's top speed, but plenty fast for the highway she was driving on. "Pick a music station, anything you like," Karen motioned towards the high-end sound system, "then open the glove box. There's chocolate inside."

The red sports car bobbed and weaved through the high-speed commuter lanes, engine roaring happily as she shifted into overdrive, "If we're going to have to endure rush hour, we're going to do it in style."

Karen switched lanes again, moving into the far left side of the high speed commuter highway where the fastest vehicles were allowed. A driver needed a special permit to drive in these lanes and had to pass a difficult road and written test. Karen would know, she'd written both.

The sports car hit 300 kilometers an hour.

"Speaking of living life," she gave Tokio a side eye, which might have been a little disconcerting since it was laser red and had a tendency to flicker, "I can't tell you how happy I am to see that Hajime has made a similar decision, despite all the hell he's been through. If I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am when it comes to such matters, you're the reason why."

**TOKIO TAKAGI**

The traffic this afternoon reminded her of the morning commute with her family. Regardless of what time of day it was, negotiating the roadways of New Meiji seemed as beastly as most other aspects of the city.

Tokio would be lying to herself if she said that she was not surprised by Captain Wantanabe's choice of wheels. But after the officer's explanation it made perfect sense to the attorney. It was the older woman's way to live again. It was a way to honor her late husband's dream, the dream they shared. The prosecutor's heart ached over what had happened to Hajime's friend. To lose her husband like she did, and then to be so severely injured herself was beyond horrific. But it was the reality of life for public servants in New Meiji. It was a sobering thought for Tokio, and a reality which she and Hajime had already experienced, but with a much better outcome than the Wantanabes. She and the Major managed to survive two potentially life taking events in the course of only a few days. They lived to see the sun rise again. Their children still had two parents. Officer Wantanabe had children, too, who at least were left with their mother. In the future would Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi be fortunate and keep both their parents? She hoped so.

Karen Wantanabe's husband sounded like the serious sort, just like Hajime. The woman's veiled insinuation that Tokio would have liked her husband because the Major was so much like him was not lost on the black-haired attorney.

After Karen eased through traffic, entering the high speed lanes, the machine sped forward, trembling with power in response to its driver. Tokio was pushed back in her seat, heart in her throat. The attorney was positive that she'd never gone so fast in a motor vehicle in her entire life.

"_Pick a music station, anything you like."_

What? Pick a station? "How about mid-twentieth century rock and roll?" the attorney responded without hesitation. Didn't they call some of that era's music acid rock back then? In Tokio's opinion that was the Golden Age of Music, nothing before, nothing after could even compare.

Well this ride was worthy of a number of those oldies. Light My Fire by the Doors? That was a real classic, but probably more appropriate, actually very appropriate, in a couple of days she thought, laughing to herself. She really doubted Hajime would indulge her with that one but it would be perfect. I Hear a Symphony by the Supremes would also be a lovely one for that matter. He would probably think that one was too schmaltzy.

But enough of that distraction, the attorney needed to bring her focus back to this high speed jaunt. Question by Moody Blues? Magic Carpet Ride by Steppenwolf? Oh! That's it! "I think that Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild would be the perfect music," Tokio blurted out. She spoke and the high-end sound system responded, resonating with deep base as the classic played.

"_Then open the glove box. There's chocolate inside."_

Gads. The woman thought of everything. "You even keep chocolate in here?" Tokio was incredulous, popping open the glove box, eyeing the various tempting offerings inside, then plucking out an individually wrapped Godiva dark chocolate ganache heart. "Do you want one, too?"

The Captain nodded, and Tokio picked another out of the glove box and handed it to her.

It wasn't long before the conversation turned to the man that both women held dear.

_"Speaking of living life...I can't tell you how happy I am to see that Hajime has made a similar decision... If I'm not mistaken, and I rarely am when it comes to such matters, you're the reason why."_

"Thank you for sharing that with me. I do want to be his reason to live life again, just as he is mine. I am determined to do all I can to make it so," she responded seriously, then added softly, "I will also do everything within my power to make sure he stays alive and well."

"Captain Wantanabe, if you don't mind, could you please call me Tokio?" The attorney paused, wondering how much of an explanation to give the woman driving this red race horse. The officer had been Hajime's close, long-time friend and AA sponsor. "Under the circumstances," the young woman would soon be his wife again, "I think it is appropriate." The prosecutor also suspected that the boys viewed her as a grandmother figure. Tokio laughed to herself, cracking a smile at the thought. What a wonderful, energetic, life embracing example the older woman was to their children. Tokio couldn't help but wonder if Karen had grandchildren of her own.

**KAREN**

The evidence was coming together quite nicely.

Karen unwrapped the chocolate and popped it in her mouth.

Quite nicely indeed.

"It would be my pleasure, Tokio," the police captain said, "but only if you return the favor and call me Karen."

A car horn honked. Then honked again.

_Get your motor runnin'  
Head out on the highway  
Lookin' for adventure  
And whatever comes our way…_

Both Karen and Tokio glanced out the window to the right, where the sound had come from.

"All right! She's looking at us!" Komada Shodo elbowed his buddy, motioning with his head towards the left of the car.

"See? I told you. The woman is smokin' hot!" He'd caught a glimpse of the lovely black-haired woman as the car she was riding in (also smokin' hot) had emerged onto the high-speed commuter lane. He honked the horn again. Women just LOVED horn honking.

_Yeah Darlin' go make it happen  
Take the world in a love embrace  
Fire all of your guns at once  
And explode into space_

"Normally, when this sort of thing happens, it's because of the wheels," Karen commented blandly.

One of the men in the car pressed his face up against the window and made kissy-face motions, smushing his lips and nose against the glass and thankfully fogging the worst of it up.

Karen snorted. Tokio was looking at the twits as if she'd just stepped on road kill that had seen much better days.

"Buddha hold me back. How could a woman resist such irresistible charms?"

The attorney's rather pithy comment about how to engage in said charm resistance made her laugh. It was a happy sort of sound, like steel tipped nails raking across an antique chalkboard.

_I like smoke and lightning  
Heavy metal thunder  
Racin' with the wind  
And the feelin' that I'm under _

"Hey, honey!" The backseat passenger, not appreciating the finer points of aerodynamics in a fast-moving car, thought it wise to roll down the window and try to wave.

Tokio and Karen watched as the roll down depressurized the other sports car, filling the vehicle with polluted air, making the twitter-pated idiots all hack and cough.

"I think I'm in love," Karen popped another chocolate in her mouth. Tokio did the same. "You think those boys are single? Especially that tiger in the back seat? He's my favorite."

"What? That magnificent specimen of manhood?" Tokio affected a swoon, grey eyes glinting wickedly, "If I can't have him, no one can."

"Oh, does this mean that we're rivals for the young man's affections?" Karen was laughing.

"It surely does." Tokio tried to give a glare as good as her sweetheart's. It was mostly successful, save for the corners of her mouth that kept creeping up into a smile.

_Yeah Darlin' go make it happen  
Take the world in a love embrace  
Fire all of your guns at once  
And explode into space _

"Hot Damn! I think she likes me!" Komada was getting rather excited. What a woman! What a car! His father had given him this car and the mandatory driving lessons that came with it so that he'd be able to pick up girls. Who knew it would work so well? Komada gave what he was sure was a very debonair sort of grin-wink at the beautiful woman, hoping that she'd return the gesture.

She didn't.

"Gods, she's like…the hottest woman. Like…ever." The tiger in the backseat, still hacking up half a lung, wheezed, his eyes watering from the acrid pollution and some unknown, highly suspect liquid substance that had splattered on his face while the window was down.

"Dibs on the driver," The young man in the passenger side of the sports car said in what he was sure was a very dark and mysteriously tragic sort of voice. Unlike his other university friends, he was clad head to toe in black, had enough piercings to make every metal detector in a 10-kilometer radius go off, and was sporting a rather imaginative makeup job, resplendent in badly smudged eyeliner and black lipstick whose application left much to be desired.

"Her? Komada was aghast. "Eww! She's _OLD_!"

The club president of New Meiji Universities Armageddon Musical Appreciation Club made a hand sign that all aficionados of the deathliest of death metal groupies were fond of using. "She's GRIM-DARK." He was a sucker for cybernetic implants.

The driver glanced his way, noticed the hand sign he was giving her and thoughtfully gave one of her own, that was not of the apocalyptic variety, but right squarely along the lines of "fuck off".

"SORDID!"

_Like a true nature's child  
We were born, born to be wild  
We can climb so high  
I never wanna die…_

"While being graced by the fine company of these asshats has been the highlight of my life thus far," Karen announced, "I think we'd best be on our way. I have boys on my mind, one ill-tempered brat in particular, and I need your help in determining whether or not I strangle him."

"She wants me," the back-seat tiger chuffed. He was back to kissy faces again, "I am SO getting lucky tonight."

To the delight of all the university boys in the car, the beautiful woman acquiesced them with a dangerous smile that sent shivers down their spines.

She waved.

Smitten, the boys waved back.

A second later, the red car beside them made an unholy roar, powerful enough that the vibrations from it could be felt through the other vehicle, and the car took off, leaving the lotharios behind with only the rapidly fading back lights for comfort.

"GRIM-DARK!"

_Born to be wild  
Born to be wild_

**TOKIO**

"_...but only if you return the favor and call me Karen."_

"It's a deal Karen," the prosecutor replied. Being on a first name basis was a good start. Tokio had a feeling that her family would be spending a fair amount of time with the officer. She was about to ask the older woman how many children she had when she was interrupted by a persistent honking.

Glancing out the side window, she saw the offender, or rather the offenders. Looked like a car full of young men.

_"Normally, when this sort of thing happens, it's because of the wheels."_

"Oh yeah...boys love wheels and I'll bet there isn't a one of them who could resist driving a red race horse like this one."

And then one of the twits made a kissy face against the window.

Karen snorted, Tokio quipped, "Budda hold me back..." The captain of the third squad was laughing now. The attorney couldn't hold back either. It was just too funny, and perhaps even a bit flattering that these testosterone endowed young guys obviously thought of them as 'babes'.

It wasn't long before the most delightful banter and laughter filled the red car in between bites of high end chocolate, of course.

So this is the way those boys wanted to roll. They certainly picked the wrong chicks, but there was no way for them to know that. If they ever learned the identity of the women they were trying to flirt with, they better hope that they were wearing their pampers.

And then Karen started talking.

_"I think we'd best be on our way. I have boys on my mind, one ill-tempered brat in particular, and I need your help in determining whether or not I strangle him."_

Ill-tempered brat? Oh gads! "You know Karen, if Hajime finds out about this, he will never let us out on the street together, ever."

The black-haired attorney was laughing, she couldn't stop. Tokio thought that Karen was a little mixed up about who would strangle whom if the Major found out about this little adventure of theirs.

Tokio had promised herself that she would never keep anything from him, unless it was a confidence that needed to be kept due to her job. This qualified didn't it? Technically, Captain Wantanabe was escorting her home from work due to safety issues. That was on a need to know basis. He already knew, but what was said in the red car stayed in the red car, didn't it?

Tokio flashed the hopeful boys her best wicked smile, giving them a little wave. Fun over, Karen effortlessly pulled away with a roar.

He would kill both of them (at least figuratively)...well maybe just confine Tokio to the house and never let the two of them go on a drive-a-bout again. Maybe just never let Karen drive her home from work?

The attorney sighed. Hajime would never make demands of her. He respected that she was an independent woman. However, she in turn wanted to respect his feelings and what she knew to be his ways.

Ah, but it sure was fun. Nothing like a 'Born to Be Wild' road trip, even if it was short, even if it was in New Meiji.


	2. Chapter 2 Revelations

**Fast and Furious New Meiji Style**

**Chapter 2** \- Revelations (or leave it up to the women to sort things out)

**KAREN**

Karen cackled at Tokio's comment about a certain Major grounding both women from having adventures of the vehicular kind.

"Bah! Against the both of us, the grumpy old wolf only has two options my dear, slink into his cave and gnaw at something or roll over and get his belly rubbed."

Karen cackled again, as an impossibly WRONG mental image of the latter option popped into her warped middle-aged brain, "I'll leave the belly rubbing to you, of course..." she popped a chocolate in her mouth.

Speeding along, the red sports car and its saucy occupants began to finally make some good time after the near non-stop grid lock of the earlier commute.

"Speaking of the wolf..." Karen ventured after a few minutes of listening to some very good mid 20th century folk music, "...he said the damnedest thing to me this afternoon before he went off on an investigation."

The 3rd Squadron Captain drummed her fingers on the hand stitched steering wheel. She liked her steering wheel. She was well on her way to liking the surprisingly funny and clearly intelligent attorney sitting in the passenger seat.

(Hell is in danger of freezing over, apparently)

She'd thought it hilarious, or a sign of severe head trauma, when her somber superior officer had gone head over combat boots for a lawyer. Now she was getting an idea of why said tumble might have occurred.

(The man needs a good tumble...) That was another matter entirely and Karen had wrangled enough stubborn children to know when to butt in and when to keep her nose out. This was one of those situations. The idea of Saitoh Hajime bumping uglies with anyone was enough to give her acid indigestion.

"Hajime told me that he had a critical mission and needed some back up in two days, precisely at 11:00 AM." Karen tried to decide whether a chocolate ball was in order, or more finger drumming on the steering wheel and went with the latter after a moment's reflection.

"He also said that we'd likely be dealing with lawyers and paperwork and that a mutual colleague in the DOJ would be reaching out to me with additional mission details." Karen kept her eyes on the road rather than looking at the grey-eyed attorney, "I wonder...do you have any idea what the crazy man might be referring to?"

**TOKIO**

_"Against the both of us, the grumpy old wolf only has two option... slink into his cave and gnaw at something or roll over and get his belly rubbed."_

The attorney laughed heartily, "You are so right, Karen. He does not stand a chance against the two of us together, and he probably knows it, too." Tokio paused, feigning a bit of sympathy, " I almost feel sorry for him."

They were making great progress in the commuter lane now...literally breezing down the pavement. Ah...music, chocolate and a sweet ride!

The gray-eyed woman managed to calm down a little, pretending to be serious. "Actually Karen, I really don't see anyone belly rubbing the Wolf, unless they want to lose some fingers or even their whole hand. I know that I would never try it since I value every digit on both my hands too much." Tokio ended with a snort. Well, that was close to the truth, since what the younger woman had in mind with the Major was more of a gentle caress.

Hajime's ears had to be burning by now. Isn't that what they say happens when people are talking about you somewhere?

_"Speaking of the wolf...he said the damnedest thing to me this afternoon before he went off on an investigation."_

Tokio listened to the officer intently, schooling her face to not show any emotion. Karen drummed her fingers against the steering wheel.

_"Hajime told me that he had a critical mission and needed some back up in two days, precisely at 11:00 AM."_

In order for Karen to know that information, she had to have heard it directly from the Major because it was in a private text she sent him today. The attorney was positive all her text messages to him using her personal phone were very secure. Hm. Interesting, but not surprising given the history Karen and the Wolf shared. She doubted if the Captain would hack her phone.

_"He also said that we'd likely be dealing with lawyers and paperwork and that a mutual colleague in the DOJ would be reaching out to me with additional mission details... I wonder...do you have any idea what the crazy man might be referring to?"_

"I think I do, Karen. I know about that matter, too," Tokio responded to the older woman.

"And he is correct, there will be attorneys present, most likely two of them, if things go as planned." That reminded Tokio she still needed to call her brother and let him know what was happening and ask him to come. She really didn't want to beg and she shouldn't have to if he wanted her to stay and finish what she'd started doing for him here in New Meiji.

"Yes there will be paperwork, too. That is something that none of us seem to be able to avoid," not now and not a couple of centuries ago, either. At least in this era there were word processors and filing paperwork no longer relied on ink stone and brush, thankfully.

"Did he happen to say who in the DOJ was going to give you a further briefing?"

**KAREN**

Karen affected a contemplative expression, while her inner mom began to crow.

"No, he didn't say who would be providing me with the necessary information for this critical mission," The 3rd Captain said thoughtfully, playing along with the sly lawyer. Takagi had her game face on and the older woman had to admit, it was a damn good one.

"Whoever it is, though, I must say that I'm impressed. The Major wouldn't share any critical information to just any DOJ colleague - he must trust that person implicitly."

Watanabe checked the GPS coordinates. They were getting closer to the elementary school where the boys were, but she and Tokio still had a measure of time to engage in some very necessary girl talk.

"And he'd have to, Tokio, as anyone who wasn't on the "in" with the mission details would likely suffer a heart attack after being informed that Saitoh Hajime was planning to get married in two days to a lawyer that he's known for about a week."

It was now necessary for a bit of chocolate fortification. Karen unwrapped a dark chocolate Godiva raspberry truffle and ate it. It was heavenly.

"You know what's really interesting is that he said that you were going to be partnering directly with him on this important mission as his lovely bride. Fancy that!"

Karen glanced at Tokio out of the corner of her eye, "So, I'm left with three options: 1.) Hajime has finally gone off the deep end in which case we should probably get you a restraining order., 2.) Hajime is trying to be _funny_ and make a _joke_ at our mutual expense in which case we're going to poison his cigarettes at the earliest opportunity, or 3.) Hajime is serious and you're both getting married before the week is out."

"If this is the case, and I suspect it is since he's not one for engaging in flights of fancy nor is he remotely adept at silliness of any sort, then I am going to extrapolate that congratulations are, along with a sincere offer to help you both any way I can."

Karen looked over at the attorney expectantly, eager for any additional romantic intel she could get her chocolate stained fingers on.

**TOKIO**

_"He didn't say who would be providing me with the necessary information . .The Major wouldn't share any critical information to just any DOJ colleague - he must trust that person implicitly."_

The attorney nodded, "I can assure you he does, Karen."

That stinker of a wolf must have been referring to her when he told Karen she would get a further briefing from a DOJ colleague. He expected his wife to do his dirty work for him, or rather to be his information specialist or social secretary. Wasn't that the stereotypical behavior of a man?

Tokio sighed. Knowing him as the attorney did, she really wasn't surprised. Poor Karen. She had endured quite enough of being kept in the dark considering her soon to be husband invited the officer to their wedding without revealing a thing. He just ordered the Captain to be there. That, she knew, was a manifestation of the man's sense of humor.

_"Anyone who wasn't on the "in" ...would likely suffer a heart attack after being informed that Saitoh Hajime was planning to get married in two days to a lawyer that he's known for about a week."_

Gads. That was the truth. Both Tokio and Hajime would certainly be considered insane for marrying after only knowing each other for a week. But as often happens, appearance was not always reality. That is the way it was in this case. The truth of the matter was that they'd been married over forty years, albeit, it was almost two hundred years ago.

Tokio decided that Karen had the right idea and grabbed another two Godiva dark chocolate hearts out of the glove box for herself. It gave her some time to consider her answer.

_"You know what's really interesting is that he said that you were going to be partnering directly with him on this important mission as his lovely bride.."_

The older woman then went on to describe the three scenarios that she'd come up with.

It was time to spill the beans, as they used to say. Tokio sighed. "I think I am that DOJ colleague he was referring to." Tokio took another chocolate out and ate it. She was quickly reaching her chocolate limit for the day, especially when it was hours ago since she'd eaten any substantial food. She loved the delicious stuff, but too much on an empty stomach didn't always like her.

"Normally, I would have to say that Hajime attaching himself to an attorney could be considered going off the deep end." But not this time she said to herself because that attorney is me.

"And there are times that I wouldn't mind poisoning those cigarettes of his, either," figuratively at least, "but this isn't one of them."

As far as being serious, the Major couldn't be more serious.

_"If this is the case, and I suspect it is..."_

"He is and it is," Tokio responded before turning to the older woman and laughing. "Karen, you are one heck of a skilled detective." It was one of the many reasons that her soon to be husband valued this woman.

"Thank you, and I greatly appreciate your offer to help." Perhaps Karen could come and stay at the house with the boys the night of their wedding. There was no time for anything longer than an overnight trip. Maybe there would be time in the future, if they both survived this hell hole of New Meiji. A trip to Aizu with the whole family would be nice, especially if they decided to have a Shinto ceremony. But Tokio did want to spend their first night in this era as an officially married couple with him alone.

To say that Hajime was not very forthcoming to Karen about their relationship was a great understatement. "Did he tell you anything about us?" The look that the Captain gave her said as much. That sounded right. Hajime was having a bit of his type of fun, so Tokio would need to be the one to set the record straight. Usually the attorney was a very private person, but Tokio had come to understand that Karen was family.

Hajime trusted this woman. Tokio needed to trust her, too.

This time the officer would not have to probe for details. Tokio would tell Karen something that the older woman was most likely very curious about, how did the two of them wind up so close, so soon after Yaso's tragic death.

"Hajime and I knew each other quite well a very long time ago, before he was married to Yaso-san. Life circumstances beyond our control ripped us apart against our will and separated us for a very long time." He died and she lived another six years without him. "We only recently found each other again and we picked up where we left off all those years ago." After I took a few days to realize who that man was and still is to me.

Well, that was the truth of the matter.

Tokio thought about telling the officer who she was. Karen probably already knew, everyone else in the DOJ seemed to. The attorney felt she'd already given enough of a deposition. If the younger woman's brother made it to the wedding ceremony, and in Tokio's way of thinking he had no reason not to, then Karen would know exactly who she was.


	3. Chapter 3 No More Secrets

**The Fast and the Furious New Meiji Style**

**Chapter 3 No More Secrets**

**KAREN**

Karen's teasing tone became something far more kind when Tokio added several pictures to what up to now had been an infuriatingly complex puzzle.

"_Hajime and I knew each other quite well a very long time ago, before he was married to Yaso-san. Life circumstances beyond our control ripped us apart against our will and separated us for a very long time."_

A spasm of pain and loss tore across the attorney's lovely face.

(Oh, Hajime...you, stubborn, secretive ass...why didn't you tell me) Karen knew why, but she was the lanky man's adoptive mother and couldn't help herself.

(This is why he never dated anyone after Yaso died.)

Karen, who knew what it was like to have her better half torn from her side, nodded silently, her normal eye welling up and threatening to spill.

"_We only recently found each other again and we picked up where we left off all those years ago."_

She'd assumed that the major's utter disdain for dating and refusal to even look at a woman sidewise unless she was being arrested or was in need of police assistance was because of grief and regret, and while that was partially true, Watanabe also realized that her friend of many years had been waiting for the woman sitting so solemnly beside her and would have, without a murmur or complaint, remained single for the rest of his life had he not found her.

"Thank you for taking me into your confidence, Tokio," Karen replied after a moment, "I will ensure that what is said in this car never leaves it."

What Karen did regret was the bit of teasing and prying she'd engaged in.

"I confess that the Major's thoughts and actions where you are concerned have been…" she paused and tried to think of a way to say things nicely, "…rather baffling this past week."

The exit ramp that would take both women to Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi's school was two kilometers away. Karen checked for traffic and smoothly transitioned from the hyper fast far left lane into the more sedate lanes where drivers were only averaging around 200 kilometers an hour.

"Clearly, you already know this, but Hajime has never been an impetuous man, not in the slightest. Everything he does is for a reason and more times than not, is the result of careful, methodical planning."

Karen looked over at the lawyer, "I knew something was up when I was at the hospital with him after he'd had surgery on his leg after the gunfight at the café. You were fixed in his mind, even then. He was more worried about you than he was himself."

Karen merged into a slightly slower lane as the high-speed off-ramp approached. "And when he told me that he'd lent you his handgun, to say I was shocked would be the understatement of this century."

She sighed, caught between regret that she'd not given her stoic friend the shadow of a doubt when it had come to the grey-eyed woman sitting beside her, and enjoying the fact that the scruffy, amber-eyed menace of a man had finally found his long-lost sweetheart.

The fact she could put Saitoh and sweetheart in an actual, serious sentence was nothing short of a miracle.

"I'm glad you found each other again. God knows that Hajime deserves a measure of joy in his life." Karen looked over at Tokio and added seriously, "He'll see to it that you have the same. As crazy as it sounds, I know that he loves you, my dear, and now that he's found you, he'll never let you go or willingly give you a reason to regret your choice in marrying him."

Karen merged onto the off-ramp and smoothly downshifted the sports car as she entered the slower traffic of the main freeway artery that was taking them closer and closer to the boy's elementary school.

"All right, the sentimental details can wait – though I should warn you, I fully intend on capturing each and every one – you have a wedding to prepare for and I'm here to help you. What do you need and when do you need it? It goes without saying that I'm more than happy to have the boys spend the night at my house after you and the wolf get hitched."

**TOKIO**

After her confession about the past history between she and the Major, Tokio glanced over at Karen. The officer's natural eye almost appeared to glisten slightly. The attorney knew that Karen was no stranger to loss, having lost her beloved husband many years ago in an act of violence while he was fulfilling his duty to protect this community.

The Captain moved forward without her husband. Tokio knew how that felt, because she had to live without Hajime for nearly six years. It had been far longer for the woman sitting beside her. Not only that, but Karen raised their children by herself. Tokio's boys were grown with children of their own by the time Hajime passed from this world.

A measure of understanding passed between the two women. Both fully and completely understanding the other when it came to the tragic loss of someone you dearly loved.

_"Thank you for taking me into your confidence, Tokio."_

The attorney couldn't help but notice the change in tone of the officer's voice after what she learned from the younger woman.

"You know his sense of humor and his penchant to reveal as little personal information as possible, Karen, so it was only fair and right to let you know about our situation." Tokio paused, needing to say what was on her mind, but not wanting to be too forward or presumptuous. "I realize that you are family to Hajime and the boys, and it is my great desire to be included in that also."

Tokio wanted to integrate smoothly and completely into the life her soon to be husband had made for his family. She hoped that it would be as if she had always been a part of their household.

_"I will ensure that what is said in this car never leaves it."_

"Thank you. I appreciate that. He is an extremely private person and I tend to be that way also, although I think I am a bit more chatty than he is," Tokio ended with a soft laugh.

_"I confess that the Major's thoughts and actions where you are concerned have been…rather baffling this past week."_

The attorney sighed, "I fully understand how it would be more than baffling without some sort of explanation. In fact it would have been quite bizarre to think that Hajime, being who he is and always has been, would yoke himself to some stranger." Life was sometimes stranger than fiction, and in Tokio's case it certainly was. She never would have guessed that she would find a lost love that had spanned the centuries.

The officer began to ease her car over to the right into the slightly slower lanes of traffic

_"You already know this, but Hajime has never been an impetuous man, not in the slightest. Everything he does is for a reason and more times than not, is the result of careful, methodical planning."_

Both women knew this man so well, one as his wife and the other as his adopted mother. The attorney nodded, "That is precisely why I rarely question his judgment."

Tokio sighed. "Even the man's slide into alcoholism was for a reason... to escape the unbearable pain and guilt he suffered. Due to that, I grant him a great deal of understanding for going down that path. He regrets it and works hard doing his best to stay sober. I am so proud of him because it can't be easy for him," especially when your wife puts cooking sake on the shopping list. That is something Tokio would never forget or forgive herself for doing.

Then she added, "Anguish can cause a person to take an action that is not always the wisest choice, but seems so at the time. I will be forever grateful that you faithfully stood by him during that time of severe crisis."

Hajime's alcoholism was a sensitive subject, but Tokio felt that Karen needed to know how she viewed what had happened to the Major. Tokio's comments were genuine. Without Karen's support, Hajime may not have survived to find her in this era.

_"I knew something was up when I was at the hospital with him after he'd had surgery on his leg after the gunfight at the café. You were fixed in his mind, even then. He was more worried about you than he was himself."_

Tokio's eyes widened in surprise when Karen shared that with her. The revelation gave the attorney a deep sense of joy. The Major mentioned that he recognized her right away, although at that point Tokio only had a series of very confusing visions about the man.

_"And when he told me that he'd lent you his handgun, to say I was shocked would be the understatement of this century."_

Tokio had a twinkle in her eye as she spoke, "I have to confess that when he loaned me his favorite gun, I realized that he still felt the same way about me as he did all those years ago."

The younger woman wasn't sure she should share this bit, but she knew the older woman would keep what was said in confidence. "To me, what he did was tantamount to a marriage proposal, although he did eventually do that in a very straight forward way." Tokio hadn't realized this at the time, but on reflection about what happened it became quite clear to her that giving her his favorite firearm was equivalent to giving her an engagement ring.

_"I'm glad you found each other again. God knows that Hajime deserves a measure of joy in his life. He'll see to it that you have the same...I know that he loves you, my dear, and now that he's found you, he'll never let you go or willingly give you a reason to regret your choice in marrying him."_

The attorney's eyes welled with emotion, words could not express how happy Tokio felt at being reunited with her better half. "After what he has been through these recent years, he does deserve to be happy, and I will do everything in my power and ability to make that so," she stated with determination.

"I know he loves me Karen, just as fiercely as I love him. Having him in my life again gives me a feeling of overwhelming joy, a joy that I have not felt for many years."

"Trust me Karen when I say that I will never regret my choice to marry him. My only regret is that some of the years after we were torn apart were so difficult for him and I was not there to support him. It breaks my heart when I think about it."

The red sports car was slowing now. They must be getting closer to the boy's school. Tokio was only there once. It was this morning and Hajime used the surface streets not the expressway.

_"All right, the sentimental details can wait – though I should warn you, I fully intend on capturing each and every one – you have a wedding to prepare for and I'm here to help you. What do you need and when do you need it? It goes without saying that I'm more than happy to have the boys spend the night at my house after you and the wolf get hitched."_

In Tokio's mind her conversation with the woman driving the car was equivalent to a heart-to-heart discussion with her future mother-in-law. It was a conversation of necessary explanations and to assure the woman that her son and grandchildren would be dearly loved and cared for. The deep personal nature was unlike any conversation that the attorney ever had in this life, but it was very necessary.

"I know the boys would be delighted to have you look after them the night of our marriage." Tokio hesitated briefly, "I want to take you up on your offer, but I need to check with Hajime first, because all of our decisions regarding the children will be made together, if at all possible." The younger woman knew there would be times when a quick decision would need to be made and consulting the other parent would not be possible. "But I cannot imagine that he would refuse such a thoughtful offer."

Tokio would have preferred to have Karen stay with the boys at their home but the attorney was not about to turn down a gift of childcare on such an important occasion.

"By now you've probably guessed that the garment bag holds my dress which shouldn't pose a problem, but I would really appreciate having some help putting my hair up." If you wanted something nice and elegant without loose hairs, having someone help you was the only way to go.

There were things weighing heavily on Tokio's mind that the officer should probably be aware of, one of which the attorney only learned about today.

"Karen, I am worried," the attorney confessed with a strained look on her face. "I've been targeted twice in less than a week. He kept me alive both times, but he can't be with me all the time. The training I have isn't enough for here in New Meiji. He will help me with that but in the meantime I have to do my best to stay alive for him and for our boys. Normally, I would not share this with anyone before I told him, but my secretary, Oharu, thinks that someone in the DOJ office pool may be keeping an eye on me."

"My greatest fear is that whoever is after me may exact their revenge on Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi." Tokio's voice wavered a bit as she finished, "I don't think I could survive if they suffered the same fate as Fujita-san's little daughter."

**KAREN**

Karen reached over and covered the younger woman's hand with her own badly scarred one for a moment.

"I'll speak with Oharu-san first thing tomorrow morning," Karen said, the sound coming from the synth box hard and flat, "the turnover in the office pool is always high, so it's a logical place for a rat to be hiding. Don't worry, if anything's amiss, I'll let you know immediately. You have my word."

The new third captain could only hope that if a mole was found, that they wouldn't have government connections that would keep them safe from prosecution. The woman who'd sold the confidential employee data of nearly twenty DOJ members, including the prosecutor sitting beside her, had only lost her job rather than her head as was right.

Two of the employees who'd been compromised were dead, one was on long-term disability and one woman, who Karen very much hoped would become like a daughter to her, was two days shy of being married to a man who also had several hits out on him and had for many years.

She sighed, hearing in Tokio's wavering voice the fear that every mother held close to her heart. The attorney had not given birth to Saitoh's two boys, but it was very clear and deeply comforting that their new mother already loved them. Sadly, the older woman had no words of comfort or assurance that she could give the bride to be, not when it came to matters such as this.

"Your children are already targets, Tokio, and even if they weren't…" she removed her hand from the attorney's and tried to focus on the road and keep her damn eyes dry, "there's still no guarantee, not in this god-forsaken city, that they'll survive to see adulthood. By working together, you and Hajime have increased their odds of being able to grow up and have two parents to guide them to maturity and that is the best that either of you can hope for."

The first hint of snow began to fall, the fragile snowflakes instantly obliterated the second they hit the windscreen of her car.

"In the times that we live in and especially in our line of work, it's far too easy for individuals to become jaded. You likely saw this already in Yokohama and New Meiji is far worse. The fact that those who lose their humanity rather than suffer along with those they have sworn to protect, live longer than those who don't, is one of the great ironies that I've seen in my life."

Karen gave a hard, staticky sigh.

"I've been Hajime's AA sponsor since Okita vanished. I will continue to carry this responsibility as it's right and proper." The program that had saved her friend's life along with countless others made sure that no family member had to carry the burden alone. "If he starts acting up, I'll be the one to bust his balls. In you, he will need a wife and sweetheart to love and support him. And he needs support. Badly."

Karen glanced over at the woman who had somehow managed to capture the Major's heart and would likely be the saving grace that kept him alive.

"I'm not sure if Hajime ever told you about his time in the army. If not, I would counsel you to be patient and let that discussion occur organically and by his initiation since it is, ultimately, his story to tell. I will say this, however: it was his service in the civil war where the seeds of his current addiction were planted and began to grow. Yaso's murder was what tipped the scales against him."

It was strange to speak of such things outright. She'd had a similar discussion with Okita when the degree of Hajime's illness became manifest and now she was having it again to ensure that a good man wouldn't relapse.

"Hajime was drafted when he was 19 right as the worst part of the war began to ramp up. He was a pitcher for Tokyo University and was majoring in Chemistry if you can believe it." The organic side of Karen's face tilted into a sad smile.

"He had no military experience, Tokio, no preparation for what he'd be thrust into. Within six months, he'd earned a field commission and in less than two years was a company captain, responsible for the lives and safety of over 100 men and women at any given time. He and his friend, Okita, were the youngest officers and in my rather biased opinion, the best of the lot by far."

Now in what she considered an appallingly slow traffic lane, Karen was determined to use what private time she had left so that the attorney would have what could be a critical measure of context into understanding the intensely private, proud and deeply scarred man she would shortly be marrying.

"You should know that despite his age and lack of previous military training, the man you are marrying still holds the command record for the highest troop survival rate of the war. And do you know what that rate was? 40%."

Karen shook her head at the magnitude of loss.

"For every one hundred men and women he commanded, he was able to only see 40 of them make it back to their families, which is still a hell of a lot better than the survival rate of his fellow battalion captains, which was less than 20%. Tokio, the company he joined as a teenager endured the bloodiest battles in Japan's military history. The fact that he is one of the surviving 4 % testifies to his tenacity, courage and ferocity in battle. The fact the company he led on the force all these years also has the best survival rates helps me understand how deeply he cared for those under his command and grieved when he wasn't able to keep them safe."

"My oldest boy was also drafted around the same time. He was a good kid. Same age as the Major and a hell of a lot more charismatic. He took after me, after all."

Karen tried to chuckle, but what was left of her throat tightened up as she thought of her brown-eyed firstborn.

"When he wrote and the few times we were able to speak before he was killed in the Shimogyō-ku Massacre, he talked about how alcohol made up a huge part of military culture and in many cases drinking was actively encouraged. He explained that after battles, it was common practice for anyone who'd made it out alive to get hammered. It helped them to forget, I suppose, even if the stupor was temporary. Soldiers drank when they survived. They drank to honor those who didn't. It's no wonder that so many of the men and women who survived the war and have managed to not self-destruct are alcoholics and addicts."

Karen turned on her blinker and moved towards the off-ramp that would take them to Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi's elementary school.

**Author's Notes**

When coming up with the survival rates (or the awful lack thereof), I used historical Shinsengumi data (at least according to Wikipedia). Out of the 10 unit captains, Saitoh and Nagakura were alive at the end of the war, hence the 20% battalion officer survival rate. The 4% company survival rate comes from taking the small handful of surviving core members that we know about and dividing it by the 87 samurai who were part of the Shinsengumi. While this is at best fuzzy math, it does give you a small measure of loss context. We know that the historical Saitoh Hajime was, like his fictional counterpart, a heavy drinker. I think that the high mortality rates certainly had a hand in explaining why.

The battle the Karen mentions that her oldest son was killed in, The Shimogyō-ku Massacre, is also referenced in the **Wolf at Work II** story thread. Saitoh also participated in this battle and was one of only a few soldiers who survived. This is also the battle where he found and rescued an 18-year-old civilian by the name of Komogata Yumi.


	4. Chapter 4 Destination Home

Chapter 4 Destination Home

**TOKIO**

The older woman's hand was warm and comforting and ushered away the chill that was spreading through Tokio. It was just the way a mother would comfort her daughter. Tokio's mother had done this when the attorney needed reassurance about something that was bothering her.

_"I'll speak with Oharu-san first thing tomorrow morning...the office pool is... a logical place for a rat to be hiding. Don't worry, if anything's amiss, I'll let you know immediately. You have my word."_

"Thanks, Karen. I would appreciate that and I do trust you," the attorney replied, just as Hajime trusts you she added to herself.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was related to that case I won in Yokohama." Everyone heard about that one, but not everyone could recall the name of the prosecutor who litigated it. "Morino-sensei thinks that is a possibility" Tokio stated with resignation. Not that she was getting used to all of her near death experiences because she wasn't.

The Captain continued, telling Tokio what the prosecutor already knew herself, but appreciated hearing from the older woman anyway. It meant she cared a great deal for the Major and his whole family.

_"Your children are already targets, there's... no guarantee... that they'll survive to see adulthood. By working together, you and Hajime have increased their odds of being able to grow up and have two parents to guide them ...that is the best that either of you can hope for."_

"I know they are already targets, but with me in their life the danger has only increased exponentially." All that Karen Wantanabe spoke was true. It was no secret that life in New Meiji was very risky, even if your parents weren't targeted by the syndicates.

The attorney nodded in agreement. "That is all that we can hope for now, to increase the odds the boys will stay safe." But perhaps in the future, if all of them could survive, they could at least spend some time in Aizu and hopefully have a respite from all of this insanity, even if for short periods of time.

Tokio was grateful that Karen explained her role as Hajime's AA sponsor. It was good to have a third party involved. They often had a better assessment of a situation than one who was so close to the person needing support.

_"If he starts acting up, I'll be the one to bust his balls. In you, he will need a wife and sweetheart to love and support him. And he needs support. Badly."_

The attorney was concerned when Karen stated that Hajime needed support so badly. Tokio had only been reunited with her Meiji 1 era husband for about a week and she had no clue that the situation with his alcoholism was so dire. But it was logical considering all the work and family responsibilities that weighed so heavily on him. It seemed to the gray-eyed woman that the man could never get a break in this life.

Speaking of family, his sister, Katsu, contributed to Tsutomu's emotional turmoil. Rather than being helpful and supportive, she'd done nothing to explain what had happened to his father. She only ripped Hajime apart in front of the child. Tokio was quite aware of this because of the late night talk she had with her oldest. The boy was in a very fragile state of mind and Tokio hoped that the time they shared together last night would start the healing process.

"Your counsel is valuable to me, Karen. Hajime will always have my love and support, regardless. The man is my life and I have committed that life back to him." There was no other course for Tokio. In her mind what was happening in this era was just an extension of the life the two of them shared so long ago. They were the same people, as far as their values and sensibilities went, but she wasn't naive. She knew they'd had much different experiences in this present life they were living.

_"I'm not sure if Hajime ever told you about his time in the army. If not, I would counsel you to be patient and let that discussion occur organically and by his initiation since it is...his story to tell. I will say this however: it was his service in the civil war where the seeds of his current addiction were planted and began to grow. Yaso's murder was what tipped the scales against him."_

"No, he hasn't confided anything about his days in the army, not yet." Tokio was beginning to feel a degree of concern as she listened. However, she was beyond grateful to learn about the origins of the Major's alcohol addiction. She accepted all that he was, but for her, it was very important to understand how and why his current life circumstances came about.

_"Hajime was drafted when he was 19 right as the worst part of the war began to ramp up. He was a pitcher for Tokyo University and was majoring in Chemistry if you can believe it." _

The attorney glanced sideways noticing the sad smile on the older woman's face as she spoke. It made the prosecutor's heart begin to ache. So her soon to be husband had studied to be a chemist. She couldn't help but think that fate had stepped in to direct him to the calling to which he was, in her opinion, best suited, although that came with heavy consequences for him and his family in this time and place.

Now Tokio had the reason why he loved baseball so much. She would keep that in mind and take every opportunity to make sure that he could enjoy viewing games. Perhaps in the future, if it were ever safe enough for them to go out in public as a family, she would give him season tickets for all of them to the Samurais as a birthday gift. She could afford it. She was sure the man had no clue that he would soon be married to a woman of means.

_"He had no military experience,...no preparation for what he'd be thrust into. Within six months, he'd earned a field commission and in less than two years was a company captain, responsible for the lives and safety of over 100 men and women at any given time. He and his friend Okita were the youngest officers and in my rather biased opinion, the best of the lot by far."_

The gray-eyed attorney just listened. She appreciated knowing what Karen was telling her. There was really nothing that could be said in response. Ah, Okita. He had to be the uncle Tsutomu talked about who gifted the child the wooden sword.

The attorney was five years younger than her husband, only fourteen, barely into her teens when the war started. In this era, unlike 200 years ago during the Boshin War, Aizu had been spared the worst of the fighting. Tsuruga Castle had not been raised this time as it had been all those years ago. Hence, Tokio had been sheltered from the worst of the carnage.

_"You should know that despite his age and lack of previous military training, the man you are marrying still holds the command record for the highest troop survival rate of the war. And do you know what that rate was? 40%."_

Her heart swelled with compassion as she learned he kept so many of his men safe. But it had come with a toll. The seeds of his addiction were planted, rooted in the desire for relief from the unimaginable horror that assaulted him each day. Two hundred years ago he trained in the skills of a warrior long before he was required to use them. He did not have that luxury in this era being drafted into a civil war he was unprepared to fight. Tokio knew that he would never have survived if he hadn't been so strong in mind and body

The young attorney could tell that even this many years later the woman driving was still affected by what had happened during the war.

_"For every one hundred men and women he commanded, he was able to only see 40 of them make it home to their families, which is still a hell of a lot better than the survival rate of his fellow battalion captains, which was less than 20%. Tokio, the company he joined as a teenager endured the bloodiest battles in Japan's military history. The fact that he is one of the surviving 4 % testifies at to his tenacity, courage and ferocity in battle. The fact the company he led on the force all these years also has the best survival rates helps me understand how deeply he cared for those under his command and grieved when he wasn't able to keep them safe." _

The statistics stunned Tokio. The attorney felt like she had a rock in her stomach. The most important person in the world to her had suffered so much at such a young age being thrown into a situation that, although he was unprepared for it, he had performed brilliantly. What did not surprise her was Hajime's role as protector of his troops. In this era she knew he had the same heart as the man she married in Meiji 1.

Because of what Captain Wantanabe revealed, Hajime's dependence on alcohol made perfect sense to the attorney. No one who was human, and Hajime was very human, could live with or accept that much death and suffering surrounding them 24 hours a day for months with no end in sight. Anyone...everyone... would look for some way to escape, for some way to cope with the violent brutality of their situation.. All Tokio wanted to do at the moment was to wrap him in the shelter of her arms and never let him go.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," her voice was wavering again, "I had no idea what he went through during the war," the civil war of this era. The young attorney's demeanor could not be more somber and contemplative. Not only was she thinking about what Karen just told her, she was also thinking about the battles of Toba-Fushimi and Aizu. She was also thinking about her own role in the Battle of Aizu as a member of the women's naginata corps.

Although she knew quite well what happened a couple of centuries ago, now was a far cry from the 1860's and the path Hajime was pushed down was not one of his own choosing. Japan's most recent civil war did more than just tear the country apart, it tore the survivors who waged it apart in an almost irreparable way.

_"My oldest boy was also drafted around the same time. He was a good kid. Same age as the major and a hell of a lot more charismatic. He took after me, after all."_

Tokio smiled, amused, when the woman beside her quipped about her more charismatic than Hajime son taking after her. Karen having a boy close to Hajime's age explained a lot. No wonder the older woman had taken the Major under her wing.

_"When he wrote and the few times we were able to speak before he was killed in the Shimogyō-ku Massacre, he talked about how alcohol made up a huge part of military culture and in many cases drinking was actively encouraged. He explained that after battles, it was common practice for anyone who'd made it out alive to get hammered. It helped them to forget, I suppose, even if the stupor was temporary. Soldier's drank when they survived. They drank to honor those who didn't. It's no wonder that so many of the men and women who survived the war and have managed to not self-destruct are alcoholics and addicts."_

By the time Captain Wantanbe finished, the younger woman's eyes were welling with unshed tears. No wonder Hajime was like a son to her. Tokio knew that no living person could ever take the place of the one who was lost, but being able to help save another's life had to give a measure of comfort. Karen was helpless to save her boy, but she was not helpless when it came to trying to save Hajime.

The Captain's further explanation of how and why alcohol was used by the troops gave the attorney a clearer, deeper understanding of what happened to the man that she would marry in two days. She was determined to do everything she could to make sure he stayed on his path of healing for the rest of both of their lives.

"Oh, Karen, I am so, so sorry," Tokio let out softly. "You've lost so much in this life, yet you have managed to still live and do more than just survive. That is a great encouragement to me to always strive to move forward regardless of what life may have in store for me."

**KAREN**

"Tokio, the career you've chosen to pursue and the man you've decided to stay beside come part and parcel with loss. My husband knew this when he joined the force and so did I." She smiled at the attorney. Grey-eyed, somber (at the surface) and beautiful, she seemed cut from the same cloth as the Major and Karen realized that the officer and prosecutor made for an extremely striking couple.

"This is part of the risk we take," the middle-aged grandmother laughed and the electronic implant in what had once been her eye gleamed blood red in the low afternoon light, "and you know, despite everything…and I do mean everything. I have no regrets. None. New Meiji wouldn't still be standing if it wasn't the work that you and I and Hajime do. There would be no government, no structure is place to defend those can't protect themselves."

She glanced at Tokio as she pulled into the elementary school parking lot, "so, if one day one of the many bastards we're trying to get off the streets manages to take my wrinkly old butt out, I'll leave this crazy world knowing I made a difference, " she laughed again, finding the idea of her demise as amusing as the silly boys who'd tried to race her, "now how many careers can offer that sort of job satisfaction? Right?"

**[****If you want to read about the late night discussion between Tokio and Tsutomu, please see the Gumi_Reloaded story, Saitoh Tsutomu Reporting for Night Duty.] **

**45 MINUTES LATER**

"Do it again! Shoot them down!"

Tsuyoshi, who'd been given the right-hand gunner position in the decidedly small back seat of the sports car, aimed his imaginary laser cannons at a fleet of enemy ninja ships and fired, making rat-a-ta-tat noises, mentally imaging a space field filled with floating dead ninja bodies and exploded space ships.

"Good job, Lieutenant Tsuyoshi," Karen spoke out in approval, trying to keep a straight face as she slowly zigged and zagged her sports car down a residential street, ignoring some rather strange looks from other commuters and respirator clad pedestrians. The fact she occasionally honked her horn, revved the powerful engine and turned the headlights on and off didn't help but she'd never given much of a damn to begin with.

"Tactical Officer Tustomu, what is our course and bearing?" this time it was Tokio who called out. In on the fun, the boy's soon to be mother was pressing buttons (seat warmer, radio and climate control dials) and twisting levels (seat angle button, auto windows and sunroof) as if she was working a super computer that kept the "space ship" that the boys had christened "the sharp toothed wolf of Mibu," and had insisted was blue rather than red, running to specs.

"3.4124 North and 89.13 and a Half-South-South West," having no clue what actually constituted course and bearing, the seven year old went for broke and made something up, which was rare for the analytical child, but rather fun since it was what was making Grandma Watanabe's car zig and zag like a mad thing down the street. The boy looked out the back-seat windows.

There wasn't much space left for him to sit. He was getting tall and had long legs like his father. His father occasionally muttered words under his breath about being in small cars with no leg room. Tsutomu knew better than to say those words out loud, lest he end up in time-out.

(Perhaps when I'm older) He smirked, then remembered they were playing a game, one that he liked very much, "Commander Grandma," he said, mimicking his father's deep voice and decidedly sarcastic drawl, "a fleet of moronic ninja's are coming in from the West."

"Can we blast them, General Mother?" Tsuyoshi said seriously, giving Tokio quite the field promotion in his excitement.

"Yes. Blast away," the new commanding general of the Saitoh filled ship said grimly, even if her grey eyes were dancing.

"Show them no mercy!" Karen was trying not to laugh. She'd gone from being a captain to a commander in the space of thirty seconds and Tokio had been called an empress once and now was the general.

"Yup, these are Hajime's boys" she whispered to her co-conspirator in make-believe, "they're very progressive when it comes to female advancement in a military setting."

It was hard to hear the attorney's response since the two boys in the backseat were making battle noises and the sounds of all sorts of things blowing up and getting blasted into smithereens.

"We're coming into space port," Karen called out after a minute as she pulled into the driveway of the Saitoh home. "are there any enemies left?"

Tsuyoshi looked out the left window, his amber eyes scanning the neighborhood carefully, "No, Commander Grandma."

Tsutomu did the same. Karen glanced at the boy out of her rear view mirror and marveled at how much the child looked like his father. "The enemy has been destroyed."

It was time to go inside.

**TOKIO**

Karen summarized the situation that all three of them faced perfectly. None would have chosen a different path. Tokio was thankful for what the older woman shared with her about her soon to be husband, and her own life. It gave the young attorney a deeper understanding of both Hajime and the person who would be like a second mother to her.

The ride home from school was delightful. It was so clear that the boys loved their Grandma Wantanabe. Their children deserved to have as much love and joy in their life as possible.

When the Red Race Horse, as Tokio had dubbed Karen's car, pulled into the Saitoh's driveway, the attorney opened her briefcase, took out the controller Hajime had given her that morning and opened the garage door.

"We only have one car and there is room for two, so you might as well park inside so all of us can avoid as much of this stinky air as we can."

Karen's car rumbled through the open doorway and came to a halt with a shudder, the heavy metal door closing behind it. The officer immediately popped the lid to the trunk and the clicks of seatbelts and booster seat latches were heard. That Grandma Watanabe had booster seats in her car let Tokio know the boys often rode in this sporty rig.

The attorney got out and pulled the front seat forward so the boys could climb out. Both of them took off their brand new air filtration masks that sported a New Meiji Samurai logo, that she'd ordered that morning and had delivered to work earlier in the day.

When she presented them to her children at school that afternoon, both had been so excited. Of course, Tsuyoshi bounced and Tsutomu gave a big smile which was something the normally reserved child only did when very pleased. Fortunately, the new masks had adjustments and the same size fit both boys.

Once the children scrambled out of the back seat of the sports car they handed their masks to their new mother. She would put them in Hajime's car later. The attorney motioned for the boys to follow her around to the back of the red car. Carefully removing the garment bag first and handing it to Karen, she picked up the small shopping bag giving it to Tsuyoshi after placing the masks in, and then handed her briefcase to Tsutomu. She took the cold box herself.

"Stay for dinner Karen?" The frozen steaks would cook quickly in the oven and the rice cooker was turned on this morning. Needless to say the fresh soba she'd purchased on-line this morning would be prepared for the Major.

"Delighted to, Tokio."

The attorney smiled at Karen before deactivating the security system. When the boys heard the tone change they opened the door and the smell of cooked rice waft into the garage. Well, she'd managed to get that appliance working successfully even though it was a different brand than the one she was used to using. She needed to get used to this one, though. It would officially be hers soon.

"Boys, just put the things you brought in on the kitchen counter, and please go change out of your school uniforms. Oh, be sure to wash your hands and face, too," she added. That would get any residual particulate off their skin. They'd had to walk outside to get from the school to Karen's car. The room the children shared accessed one side of a Jack and Jill bathroom which was quite convenient in Tokio's mind.

"Yes, Mother," two voices chirped in unison before doing their version of a power walk to the bedroom end of the house, giggling as they went. At least they remembered not to run.

As Karen took a seat at the table, Tokio asked if she wanted some tea or coffee. There was still coffee in the pot from this morning, still warm and now sludge-like. Hajime would undoubtedly enjoy that.

"Coffee would be great. Regular. I don't drink tar like that sweetie of yours does...and speaking of sweet, that's how I like it."

Tokio laughed, emptying the leftovers from this morning's brew into a large glass mug for the Wolf to reheat when he got home.

It was no surprise that the older woman liked her coffee sweet considering how she'd been scarfing down chocolate on the way home. The attorney was in no position to judge since she'd consumed just as much as Karen. Tokio suspected that both she and Karen had a borderline addiction of the chocolate kind. Fortunately, if it could not be controlled, it only added to the waistline.

After bringing her guest a mug, the sugar bowl and a carafe full of the newly made coffee, the young attorney unzipped the cold box and proceeded to put the groceries away. There were two non-grocery items in the box which Tokio placed on the counter intending to give them to Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi before they helped with meal preparation.

As she worked Tokio explained to Karen what she intended to prepare for dinner, and the assistance the boys could give, knowing the officer would help their new mother supervise the children's efforts.

It wasn't long before a companionable silence settled in the kitchen as the soon to be mistress of the household continued putting away groceries and the officer sipped her coffee, contemplating the discussion that had taken place in the car before they picked up the boys from school.

Tokio kept her ear tuned to any noises coming from the boys' bedroom. She could hear the muffled sound of talking interspersed with a few laughs. That was much better than complete silence which would alert her that something may be going on. Silence and children were not always a good combination, because silence could mean that kids might be up to something they didn't want their parents to know about. Tokio recalled a few times like that back in Meiji 1. Regardless, now that she was finished with her task she stood to go check on them.

When...

**BAAANG...BAAANG...BAAANG...BAAANG  
**  
Tokio startled...

Karen who was still sitting at the table stood...

The concussions vibrated through the house.

It was coming from the heavy metal garage door. The attorney glanced at the police officer with a questioning look. Who in their right mind would be doing that and who in their right mind would open a door when someone was banging on it like a madman? Tokio sure wouldn't.

It had to be the syndicate coming to finish what they started at the Sunshine Cafe.

The attorney took a calming breath. She could do this. Her lips pressed together, her face took on a hard, determined look. A very capable Captain Wantanabe would be along side her. They could handle this together.

However, it terrified her that the children were home with her instead of Hajime like during the last two hits on her life. She was very worried for their safety, not for her own or Karen's.

This had happened to the boys once before in this house, when their birth mother was slaughtered. It shouldn't be happening to them again. They did not need more trauma in their young lives. They had experience too much for children their age already. In another time and place she'd fought to defend Tsuruga Castle during the Battle of Aizu. This time she would be protecting her own children not Matsudaira's.

The Captain was facing the kitchen window which looked out to the driveway.

"Can you see who it is Karen?" Tokio asked as she drew her firearm from the holster under her blouse. "Do you think they're syndicate?"

The boys were still in their rooms for now. The young woman hoped with a little luck they wouldn't hear the commotion outside.


	5. Chapter 5 A Fight to the Finish

Chapter 5 - A Fight to the Finish

**KAREN**

Karen glanced at the attorney, grateful that Tokio had already confirmed that she was carrying a right and proper weapon. She gave the woman a once over with a well trained eye and smiled grimly as she made out the familiar shape and bulk of a high powered and decidedly lethal handgun.

(Bless you Hajime...) The captain had a pretty good idea where the semi-automatic had come from. She sighed, despite the potentially serious situation. Who knew the major had such a romantic streak going through him?

Her gun was also out of the holster as another round of banging echoed through the house. Carefully, she made her way to the kitchen window, which looked out over the drive way.

"Can you see who it is Karen?" Tokio asked as she drew her firearm from the holster under her blouse. "Do you think they're syndicate?"

Karen looked back at the attorney. Gone was the laughing smiling Tokio who'd just been putting groceries away. A serious, tall woman with eyes that had turned the color of stainless steel, was standing in the kitchen. The pretty bride to be had been replaced with a warrior.

This suited Karen just fine.

She motioned for the woman to get ready to fire, just in case, and looked out the window quickly.

Her face fell. "Oh, shit."

Tokio's mouth hardened. "Syndicate?"

"No, it's much worse than that," Karen groaned and holstered her handgun. Her face was pale, eyes haunted with terrible memories. "It's Katsu, Hajime's older sister."

**Earlier in the day...**

"Oh, so now you're calling?" Katsu flicked on her wireless headset with, her amber eyes snapping with anger. She wasn't surprised. Not anymore. Only one thing mattered to her younger brother and it wasn't her, his children or anyone else. The only thing in the world that Hajime cared about was his goddamned job.

"_You seemed rather insistent that I should."_

Katsu swore, and not under her breath as her brother's dry, sarcastic drawl grated through the headset. He was a bastard, though and through.

"That email you sent this morning," she said accusingly, "what the hell was that about? Who the fuck do you think you are to speak to me that way?"

"_The email was self-explanatory, Katsu," _the voice on the other end remained even, pithy and tightly controlled.

Had this conversation taken place ten years earlier, it would have already descended into a shouting match. While Hajime's temper had never been equal to hers, the brat had always given as good as he got. The fact that her brother no longer engaged in such behavior, as if he was so much better than she was, made her angrier.

"So, what are the 'alternative arrangements' you've set up?" Katsu demanded, "let me guess, you set your paranoia aside and finally hired a nanny. God knows you'd never take responsibility and try and raise them by yourself. So, who is she? One of your lackeys on the force? Watanabe perhaps?"

"_Moron."_

There was a dismissive snort on the other end of the line, a measure of silence fell, as if the man was weighing what to say. When he spoke again, the tone was a little different, less hard perhaps.

"_Katsu, I'm getting married."_

Katsu barked out a harsh laugh that mirrored that of her younger sibling. "Right. You. Marrying. Because you did SO well the first time around," an old wound, the deepest between them festered up. "You expect me to believe that you're serious? Isn't one dead woman enough?"

She heard a growl then, deep and angry.

Katsu made one right back.

"As if anyone would want you."

Furious, she ended the call before he could respond. What was the point? He'd never do such a thing. He was a broken, fucked up mess of a man and she was getting tired of picking up the pieces over and over again.

**Present Time  
Saitoh Residence  
Garage Door**

Katsu clicked the remote sensor over and over again. Each time, a harsh denial beep sounded.

She swore and threw the remote onto the driveway with enough force that it broke on impact.

She didn't know what her asshole of a brother was getting at, but she was going to kill him.

Not only had he joked about marrying (as if ANY woman could replace the one he'd let die), he'd cut off her access to her nephews, despite all she'd done to keep them out of state custody. She'd gone to pick them up, since she was sure that Hajime had been lying, and when she got to the elementary school, she'd been denied entrance, told she no longer had authorization and had, despite her vehement demands for an explanation been escorted from the building by the school security detail.

She didn't know what in the hell was going on, but she was about to find out.

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

She pounded on the garage door and then, suddenly it began to go up

**TOKIO**

It was not the syndicate.

The young attorney let out an audible sigh of relief as she re-holstered her semi-automatic. But what Karen revealed was not necessarily good news, either.

"Oh gads," Tokio blurted out. "What does she want?"

The prosecutor had an idea. The school told them this afternoon when they'd picked up the boys that an extremely belligerent woman was there before they arrived, trying to get the children released to her. She'd been denied access and had to be forcibly removed from the premises.

The younger woman glanced at Karen who understood without being asked that she would need to ride herd on the kids and be back up for Takagi if the situation deteriorated too far.

Tokio intended to meet her former and - soon to be again - sister-in-law in the garage. There was no way in hell she would let that woman set foot in the house.

Katsu was very bad news during Meiji 1 and the attorney guessed that she was only worse in this era. The only reason she decided not to confront Soma outside was the putrid air quality, although that would most likely be quite compatible with that woman's breath.

It didn't hurt that Karen's car was in the garage, either. Just an extra silent message the Major's sister had better behave herself.

Tokio activated the garage door opener and it slowly tracked upward revealing someone whom the prosecutor had not seen for about two hundred years, someone who was furious and looked like she could kill.

"What do you want Katsu-san?"

The attorney's voice was as smooth as silk, low, hard and deadly.

You don't recognize me, do you...she said to herself.

**SOMA KATSU**

If someone told Soma Katsu that she was the spitting image of her younger brother she'd knock them into next week.

Because she was so alike to Saitoh in form (and worse in temper) she was more than capable of following through.

When the garage door began to go up, the mother of five, wife of a kind and respectable physician, and the most terrifying president in the history of the local junior high school Parent Teacher's Association, had her hands on her hips, her long black hair bound up in a knotted bun and was wearing a very smart button up dress with cute little flowers festooned on the cotton-poly fabric (washable of course) and a matching cable knit pink cardigan (cashmere, because she could afford it, dammit).

In this regard she and her younger sibling could not have been more unalike.

The glare she gave the tall, slender woman clad in a proper charcoal business suit, was murderous.

(Where have I seen her?) Katsu scowled, her sharp mind tearing through any mental associations that might make her recall where she'd seen the grey-eyed woman before. Only fuzzy recollections came to mind, and all of them indicated that this bitch standing in her brother's garage had at one time in her life, been an absolute pain in the ass to deal with.

"You want to tell me what you're doing in this house?" Katsu didn't bother with any pleasantries, "and why the hell my shitty brother has deactivated my security clearances?"

**TOKIO**

Once the woman spoke, Tokio gave her an appraising look. Yes, no doubt about it. This was the Major's sister. The resemblance the two had to each other was uncanny.

Hm. Looked like she was wearing an expensive cashmere sweater.

Of course Katsu was flaunting the fact that she had money. Tokio assumed that to be the case judging from what she was wearing. The woman always did try to pass herself off as a clothes horse, albeit, usually quite unsuccessfully.

The gray-eyed attorney's first thought was to tell this poorly dressed (in Tokio's opinion) banshee that it was none of her business what she was doing in this house. However, she intended to be as honest and as polite as possible, regardless.

"I live her Katsu-san," Tokio stated, keeping her voice even. She was going to do her very best not to get into a cat-fight type of spat with this woman in this era. Too many of their encounterss back in Meiji 1 had degenerated into extremely unpleasant exchanges.

"I believe that if you give what I said some thought," like you are so prone not to do, "you can figure out why Hajime deactivated your security clearances."

Tokio's gaze on Hajime's sister was steady and void of emotion.

**KATSU**

"Oh, this is beginning to make sense," Katsu gave the woman a look of outright contempt. "You get a roof over your head, and probably some spending money," she knew clothing and brands like the back of her hand and could see that the woman who was forward enough to dare call her by her given name did as well.

(Wearing a suit like she's some sort of respectable professional...)

The woman's admission that she considered this place her home, proved that she was anything but.

"And all you have to do is keep things clean, take care of the kids, and spread your legs on command."

She sneered, "I should have known he'd do something like this - shack up with some slut who's willing to play nanny rather than accept his responsibilities as a father."

She shook her head, disgusted, "I'll give the bastard this, at least he's consistent."

**TOKIO**

It was getting very hard for the attorney to remain polite. Katsu had not changed one bit. She was just as vile as she was two-hundred years ago.

"You do not know me, but go ahead and judge me if you wish, if it makes you feel better. I don't care." The attorney paused, "and I doubt if your brother cares what you think either."

However, there were some things she wanted this woman to know, especially when it came to Tokio's opinion about how Soma had treated her nephews, Tsutomu in particular.

"I do want to promise you that should you cross certain lines of behavior, there will very certainly be consequences."

Hajime's home, now their home, had a plethora of security cameras. Attempted breaking and entry came to mind, among other things. There sure would be a lot of evidence to back up any legal complaint if things got that far out of hand.

**KATSU**

"Certain lines of behavior? Who the hell do you think you are?"

Katsu folded her arms and glared at the slightly shorter woman.

"My brother calls me, and says he's getting married," the amber-eyed sister spat the word out as if it was toxic, "I come to his home, to the place where my friend raised her children before his neglect ended up getting her killed, and I find some whore standing in the driveway acting as if she owns the place."

Memories of Yaso playing with her babies, of painting and laughing rose up. Her dear friend, the best friend she'd ever had in her life had _loved_ this sad, little excuse for a home, and somehow had loved the man who came with it. She'd wanted to raise her babies under this roof and had ended up being slaughtered in the back yard.

(Yaso, what were you thinking?) She'd not understood her friend's devotion to her brother in life and would never, could never forgive him for her death.

"I don't know what you think you're going to get out of this little 'marriage' of whatever it is that's he's promised you," Katsu made air quotes around the matrimonial term, "but do yourself and the kids a favor and just go. Trust me, the man will disappoint you in ways you cannot even begin to comprehend."

Katsu's expression held no pity, no compassion, only anger mixed with grief, "Sooner or later, you'll get sick of him and leave and those kids you've been hired to wrangle, those boys who already had their mother ripped from them because of his incompetence will be left alone again and I'll be stuck, just like I was the first time around, to pick up after him and raise my nephews right along with my own children."

**TOKIO**

_"Certain lines of behavior? Who the hell do you think you are?"_

"If that happens, you will find out exactly who I am," the attorney spoke evenly but with a deadly edge to her voice. It was a promise, not a threat.

_"My brother calls me, and says he's getting married. I come to his home, to the place where my friend raised her children before his neglect ended up getting her killed, and I find some whore standing in the driveway acting as if she owns the place."_

Ah the fact Yaso was Katsu's friend spoke volumes to the black-haired attorney. No wonder the woman felt such hatred for her brother. Having to take care of Yaso's children was a daily reminder of what she believed was as a catastrophic fail on the part of her brother.

That wasn't all.

_"Sooner or later, you'll get sick of him and leave and those kids...will be left alone again and I'll be stuck, just like I was the first time around, to pick up after him and raise my nephews right along with my own children."_

So that was it. Katsu did not want to be burdened with Hajime's kids again. Most likely she had all that she could handle with her own family. She never was an emotionally strong or stable person in Tokio's opinion.

"Katsu-san, please accept my deepest sympathy on the loss of your friend, Yaso-san. I can understand why you feel as you do toward Hajime, but it does not justify your attempts to poison his children against him." The attorney's voice had compassion when she expressed her condolences, but it took a harder edge when she identified what she considered to be the woman's transgressions against the boys.

Tokio decided she might as well continue expressing what she was thinking.

"To drag children into this, as you did, is in my opinion, unconscionable. I think that Tsuyoshi was too young to understand what you were saying, but Tsutomu was not. He understood perfectly, and what you said scarred him deeply. Only time and a loving, supportive home is going to heal him."

"The fact that Yaso-san was your friend does not give you an excuse for the way you treated your brother and his children. Instead of explaining to Tsutomu, who was old enough to understand, that his father was ill, you took the opportunity to turn the boy away, to manipulate his feelings."

"As far as Tsutomu and Tsuyoshi are concerned, you don't need to worry about them, nor will you have to be responsible for them ever again," because I am determined to stay alive to do that myself.

There was no way the attorney was going to tell this woman, that she'd already raised these children once and fully intended to raise them again in this era. Even if Katsu would believe her it wasn't worth the time and energy to tell her. As far as the great love of her life was concerned, they'd been married over 40 years before death took him. And death did not win, either. They were now reunited.

**KATSU**

Katsu narrowed her eyes into slits, amber eyes snapping with anger.

Her mind, however, was dissecting what the woman had said, looking for weak points, areas of opportunity to launch an attack. She was, after all, her brother's sister.

And she could find only one.

"The children," Katsu said after a moment, "I can see that you care about them. I don't know when or how this happened, but you do."

Katsu was a mother after all, one who loved her own children ferociously.

"You clearly have some understanding about what happened to them and their poor mother." A muscle in Katsu's jaw ticked, "but I wonder _how_ much you know about what _really_ happened?"

Katsu took a step forward. She was a tall woman and notoriously imposing. To her surprise (and chagrin) the icy, black haired woman didn't budge, didn't blink.

"Did he tell you she was pregnant when she died? That he was always gone, never home? Did my brother tell you that when he came home, sticking of blood and smoke and god knows what else that she cried because it hurt her to see him in such a state? She lived in terror for the call that no wife wants."

"He knew this - that he was hurting his wife, that his job was tearing her apart. And do you know what he did?"

Katsu's lip curled into a sneer, "He did NOTHING."

"Do you expect that you'll have it any better? That you'll have some special hold on that bastard's black heart? That he'll care? That he'll LOVE you?"

Yes, it was possible that this icy little bitch did have some feelings for the kids. It drove Katsu mad that her nephews looked and acted so much like their father, with the singular exception of Tsuyoshi's smile. It was a bitter reminder of all that she'd lost.

"Yes, I warned the boys about their father. It would have been better for them and for their mother if he'd been killed on an assignment or better yet, just left like so many men do. They had and HAVE a right to know what happened to their mother and who was responsible for that loss."

Katsu swore, and adjusted her expensive leather purse on her shoulder, "I'm going to go get the boys and take them to my house. If you're smart, I suggest you find somewhere better to be before the same thing that happened to my friend happens to you."

**TOKIO**

The black-haired attorney just listened to the vile woman spout all kinds of vitriol. It wasn't like Tokio hadn't either heard it all before, or read it in police reports, as in the case of Yaso's vicious murder. She was very sorry for what befell her husband's first wife in this era. No one should be the victim of such cruelty.

At least the woman got the message that Tokio cared a great deal for their children, just as her hatred for her brother came through loud and clear. The woman was blinded by hate. Blinded by a tragedy that Hajime really could not prevent. It was too bad that Katsu chose not to even try to understand.

None of what Katsu said deserved or warranted a response. She was not worth the prosecutor's time or energy. To Tokio she was a nothing, even if she was Hajime's sister. Tokio dismissed and had no respect for someone who acted as this woman did.

_"I'm going to go get the boys and take them to my house. If you're smart, I suggest you find somewhere better to be before the same thing that happened to my friend happens to you."_

The attorney gave Katsu a flat look. It was a wise move on her part to lock the door to the house behind her when she stepped into the garage, anticipating that the furious woman standing in front of her might try something desperate and stupid.

"What part of 'crossing certain lines of behavior results in consequences' do you not understand, Katsu-san?" the attorney paused briefly, "if **you** are smart, you will remember real soon." Tokio's voice remained even, no hint of emotion at all.

Hajime's sister tried to step past her to get to the door to the house. The attorney, her expression as hard as a rock, stepped sideways blocking the woman's path, not afraid to get in her personal space.

Katsu halted, but the murderous look in her amber slits of eyes only intensified as she growled menacingly, "Get out of my way!"

"Katsu-san, let me explain something to you," the attorney's voice was laced with venom, "not that you are going to understand what I am about to say, because in the past you never were very good at understanding anything." Back in Meiji 1 there were times that Tokio was certain her sister-in-law's brain was filled with bricks.

The prosecuter looked Katsu straight in the eye. " If you ever...storm into...or enter this house again...I can assure you that I will not only slap you with a restraining order so fast your head will spin, I will also have you charged with breaking and entering." Tokio's tone was as sharp as the katana Hajime carried during the Boshin War.

Yaso's friend took two steps backward, trying to put some space between herself and the professionally dressed woman who obviously meant business. What did this type of woman see in her good for nothing brother? What he said about getting married had to be a joke. No one like her would look twice at him much less marry him.

"Believe me when I tell you that you will also be sued for harassment."

She was so tempted to say that Katsu's head would spin on her scrawny neck, but she was trying to maintain some semblance of civility. Where Katsu was concerned that was an extremely challenging thing to do. In Meiji 1 the woman was her sister-in-law and in those days wives had to submit to their husband's family. Tokio was a dutiful wife in that respect, however, she took every opportunity she got to subtly jab at the woman, knowing most of it would go right over Katsu's head since she wasn't the brightest light and didn't get Tokio's meaning, which was fortunate.

"Now, please turn around and leave.. I have no desire to continue this conversation," the prosecutor said dismissively.

Katsu was still fuming and started to open her mouth in response, only to snap it shut quickly. She then spun on her heels and stomped toward the still open garage door. Tokio was glad that there was a heavy duty air purifier in their garage, made specifically for purifying car exhaust, that would take care of the pollution that drifted inside. Too bad it couldn't do something about her sister-in-law's foul mouth.

"Oh," the attorney called casually as Hajime's sister marched out to the driveway, "did you marry a physician this time around, too? If so, I hope he is a psychiatrist. Therapy may help you come to terms with what happened to both Yaso-san and Hajime."

Tokio had always felt so sorry for Soma-sensei, wondering how such a gentle soul chose a she-beast for his wife.

Katsu snarled. Who the heck was this woman? The fact that she couldn't remember where she'd met this witch only infuriated her more. In Katsu's mind there was no way that this was over, yet. The threat, no the woman was not threatening, she gradually realized. That woman her brother was shacking up with was making a promise

Katsu's back was facing Tokio so she couldn't see the satisfied smile that was spreading across the young attorney's face as she watched Hajime's sister leave.

The cashmere sweater wearing woman scoffed at the suggestion that anyone as mentally healthy as she would need a psychiatrist. It was her brother and this..this...whoever she was... who needed psychiatric care.

About the same time as the closing garage door hit the concrete floor, it hit Katsu that a restraining order, criminal charge, and a harassment suit, even if not successful, would damage her reputation enough that she would surely lose her esteemed position of PTA president at Meiji East Junior High. That thought took the wind out of her sails. That was her defining roll in her otherwise dreary life.


	6. Chapter 6 Unexpected Turn

Chapter 6 - Unexpected Turn

**TOKIO**

As soon has the heavy, metal garage door sealed completely against the concrete floor with a subtle thud, the attorney breathed a sigh of relief. Dealing with Katsu was always tiring regardless of the era. Tokio was very thankful that Hajime was not a witness to the woman's diatribe. She couldn't care less what came out of the woman's mouth about her. On the other hand, Tokio suspected that Hajime would not like the fact that Tokio had been subjected to such vicious accusations from his sister, or from anyone if the truth be told.

The black-haired woman had a sinking feeling. There were security cameras in here. Tokio did not want there to be any secrets between she and Hajime. Would sparing him from something like this, a verbal attack against her, really be keeping a secret? Perhaps she would talk to Karen to see what she thought.

Taking the controller out of the pocket of her charcoal gray suit, she opened the door to the house. Stepping inside, she was confident that Grandma Karen had kept the children far enough away that they wouldn't have heard sounds coming from the garage. She suspected that the space was fitted with sound dampening material.

**KAREN**

Karen depressed the security camera feed, her expression thoughtful.

(Hajime, I understand now...)

In the short time she'd had with Takagi Tokio, Karen had come to know that the young woman was a beauty, both inside and out. It had been clear to her from the onset, that she also deeply loved the stern man she'd consented to marry so quickly, despite all the difficulties and dangers that such an act presented.

However, it was watching the slender woman in grey, stride out into the driveway and not only face, but face down, one of the meanest people she'd ever known, a woman who'd done inestimable harm, not only to her nephews but their father as well. By listening in, the full ramifications of what Saitoh's sister had inflicted hit home.

Karen bared her teeth in anger and resisted the motherly urge to get in her car, chase the Soma woman down and then shoot the bitch and see how she liked being savaged.

She was half considering doing just that when she heard the garage door closing and realized she didn't have to do a damn thing. The young attorney had already taken care of things in a cold, hard, calculating and lethal manner.

(I see why you love her now.)

The only thing Karen couldn't quite figure out was the ferocious love she'd heard in Takagi's voice. It was that of a mother, of a wolf fighting claw and tooth to keep her cubs safe. There was no new sense of fondness, as one might expect from a woman who'd never known these children. Of that Karen was sure. While the attorney and the major may have known each other many years ago, he was a faithful man and would have not brought another woman into his life or those of his children had Yaso been alive.

(So what is this?)

Karen put a hand on her hip and thought about it for a moment.

(Who cares? She loves those sweet boys, somehow as much as he does and will keep them safe, even at the cost of her own life.)

Her estimation of the household's survival rate shot up.

Her amber-eyed boy wasn't marrying just to keep this woman safe. He had found his equal, found what Karen suspected was the love of his life, a ferocious protector for their children and a partner and colleague in the fight against all the evil that was threatening to pull New Meiji down around them.

(Hajime, you found your mate and you brought her back home.)

"Dammit," Karen gruffly wiped at her eyes. She was getting sentimental as she grew older. If Hajime was here, he'd give her shit for getting all boopy.

(But he's not here...)

The door to the house opened and Tokio stepped inside. Save for her eyes, that were are hard as steel, there was no hint that she'd had such a nasty confrontation. Every possible insult had been thrown at her and at the man she loved.

(And she took it, then threw it back in Soma's face.)

"You mean, methodical, dangerous ice-queen," Karen grinned and walked over to where the taller woman was standing, "you ate that woman alive, chewed on her for a bit, then spat her out without blinking an eyelash."

She patted Tokio on the arm, letting her scarred, muscular hand linger on the woman's shoulder.

"No wonder Hajime loves you so much." Her appreciation and absolute acceptance was clear in her tone, "I think I'm going to love you just as much."

Karen looked at the woman, an alpha in a smart business suit and heels, "Speaking of Hajime," the white-haired cyber specialist motioned with her head towards the security camera set up, "what are we going to do about the footage?"

**TOKIO**

_"You mean, methodical, dangerous ice-queen...you ate that woman alive, chewed on her for a bit, then spat her out without blinking an eyelash."_

"Mission accomplished," the black-haired attorney quipped. She laughed lightly and smiled. "I don't think I've ever met a more miserable excuse for a person in my entire life."

"I don't care what she said about me, but when she started to savage Hajime, that is where I drew the line," Tokio's gaze hardened briefly as she spoke.

Karen's gesture of a pat on the arm, her hand lingering on Tokio's shoulder gave the younger woman a sense of complete acceptance. She was beyond grateful to be shown such consideration by the person who was like a mother to her husband and a grandmother to her children.

_"No wonder Hajime loves you so much...I think I'm going to love you just as much." _

"Thank you Karen that means a lot to me." It humbled Tokio to hear those words. She knew that something very important happened between the two them today. They developed a bond, a mutual respect, trust, and a care for each other that Tokio knew would only deepen the more time they spent around each other.

"You are very important to all of us and you will always have a special place in our home." Tokio smiled warmly, "Karen, you are always welcome here." The younger woman was sincere. She truly meant every word. If it weren't for Karen's concern for Hajime, he probably would have died from his alcohol addiction.

"As you have gathered, I love him fiercely as well. I always will. That man is my life."

_"Speaking of Hajime...what are we going to do about the footage?" _

"I wish I knew. I was going to ask you the same question."

Tokio blew out a light breath. "I've been thinking about that." The prosecutor cast her eyes down in thought before looking back at Karen, assuming the officer had seen the security feed or she wouldn't be asking that question.

"As you probably gathered from what happened, I don't care in the least what Soma said about me to my face. In fact I prefer things that way. I would rather know how I stand with a person."

"But I do care, a great deal, about what she did to the boys and Hajime. That is why I called her on it. I can hardly believe that someone can be so vile and vicious towards their own flesh and blood." The young attorney grimaced in disgust.

"However, Hajime may be very bothered that I had to endure such filthy accusations from his sister. I promised myself I would never keep a secret from him. Would sparing him knowing about a personal conversation I had with someone be considered keeping a secret?"

Both women knew that any work related conversations were often off limits and could not be discussed, but this wasn't remotely similar.

"Perhaps if we erase it, I can just tell him that I had an unpleasant encounter with her, but I took care of it." From Tokio's expression it was obvious that the young attorney was caught in a dilemma.

**KAREN**

"You took care of that cardigan wearing psycho, all right," Karen said affirmatively.

She looked at Tokio. The ice-queen was gone and a young bride who clearly loved and wanted to do right by her sweetheart stood, a bit uncertainly.

"And I'll take care of this. It's crap and deserves to be erased." Karen said firmly, walking over to the security console with the intent to erase the footage. It wasn't the first time she'd wiped security recordings to give Hajime and the lady beside her a measure of privacy from peering eyes and painful topics and it wouldn't be the last.

Her comm unit buzzed.

Karen stopped and listened.

"Dammit,"

She looked back at Tokio and frowned, trying to decide whether to let the younger woman know that the man she'd be marrying in two days was in the middle of a fire fight.

(She has a right to know...)

"Tokio, do you have your comm unit?" The attorney nodded. Karen pressed her own ear-wire and listened intently, her expression becoming very serious. "Hajime's in the middle of a gun battle at some stupid night club and they just called for backup."

"If you want to listen, the frequency is 62.28 megahertz," Karen paused then added, "while not _technically_ illegal since you're a DOJ employee, I'd not make this a habit, if you know what I mean..."

In seconds, both women had their wireless comm units on and were listening intently.

"DISPATCH, THIS IS LIEUTENANT TAKAMATSU CALLING IN AN INCIDENT. WE HAVE A 814 IN-PROGRESS. CLUB GOMI..." there was a burst of static and it was difficult to hear the club address.

"...16 ARMED ASSAILANTS, ALL HEAVILY ARMED WITH NIGHT VISION AND WHAT APPEARS TO BE BALLISTIC GEAR. THEY'VE CUT THE POWER AND..."

A dry, rather pithy voice cut into the dispatch frequency channel, "DISPATCH, ALL HELL'S BREAKING LOOSE. SEND IN THE FIFTH and SECOND ARTILLERY SQUADS AND STEP ON IT. SAITOH OUT."

**TOKIO**

_"You took care of that cardigan wearing psycho, all right. And I'll take care of this. It's crap and deserves to be erased." _

"Thank you Karen. I appreciate that so much. When I have a chance tonight, I will give him the short version of what happened."

Tokio intended to give Hajime a very short version with absolutely none of the vicious details. It was crap as the officer said and the vile words Katsu said about both Hajime and Tokio were something that should not be repeated or remembered by anyone.

Just as the attorney was about to ask about the boys, Karen kept both of them occupied during what the young woman would from now on think of as the Aunt Kat fight...if she thought of it at all.

_"Dammit"_

Tokio startled, quickly turning to give Karen a questioning look.

"What's wrong?"

The attorney could tell that something wasn't right.

What Karen said about the fire fight caused the young woman's breath to hitch, but she calmed herself and took action as soon as Captain Wantanabe explained the situation.

_"While not technically illegal since you're a DOJ employee, I'd not make this a habit, if you know what I mean..."_

The black-haired attorney nodded in understanding, as her com device sparked to life. Her face was etched with concern until she heard a very familiar voice.

Tokio was calm. This is what Hajime did. She was the one who put the legal pieces together once he was finished with his part.

Knowing the Major was fine at this point, she interrupted her concentration just long enough to catch Karen's eye and give a nod towards the bedroom end of the house.


	7. Chapter 7 Waiting

Chapter 7 - Waiting

**KAREN**

Karen nodded back.

(Yes, the boys are fine...they are watching contraband cartoons and will not budge from where they are sitting).

Being a grandmother, she had an arsenal of child attention occupying materials that old Minato would have coveted.

Tokio nodded and the women returned to their electronic eavesdropping observance.

Suddenly static burst into their ears as the sound of heavy gunfire erupted. In the background, there was the sound of a man screaming in pain and then silence.

"DISPATCH. ETA ON BACKUP?" This time the major's voice was impossibly hard. Focused. Grim.

The sound of more gunfire, this time closer could be heard in the background. Another scream, anguished and high and undeniably female filtered through the frequency.

"THIS IS DISPATCH. BACKUP UNITS ARE EN ROUTE. ETA IS 10 MINUTES."

A strange sound, more disconcerting than gunfire could be heard through the ear pieces that the women were listening with. Low, distorted, words mangled into something that was anything but human was being picked up on the police scanner.

Karen knew what made that sound and closed her eyes, her face paling.

"DISPATCH." It was Takamatsu. "WE HAVE THREE ACTIVE USERS. ALL ARMED. THREE ON-SITE SECURITY STAFF ARE DEAD. ONE INJURED."

The sound of unhinged, inhuman growling became louder and in stereo.

There was the sound of rapid gunfire followed by a violent animalistic scream of rage and pain.

"THIS IS DISPATCH. PLEASE CONFIRM HOSTILE COUNT."

"DISPATCH. ONE USER HAS BEEN NEUTRALIZED BY SAITOH. TWO ARE ADVANC..."

The sound of two users, maddened by a lethally strong mixture of several black market meta-amphetamines overtook the lieutenant's report. Bestial. Violent, the words and threats of the users obscene in detail and intent.

"Get behind me," Karen could barely make out the major's voice.

"They're coming!" A woman screamed, clearly terrified.

And then, the sound of things exploding, crashing, breaking, shattering rang out. In the midst of it all, Karen heard a sound, a voice, a cry of a man in pain. It was Hajime!

The police scanner went dead.

"THIS IS DISPATCH: STATUS REQUESTED. PLEASE RESPOND."

Silence

"THIS IS DISPATCH. LIEUTENANT TAKAMATSU. MAJOR SAITOH. PLEASE RESPOND."

**TOKIO**

Once Tokio knew the boys were fine she turned her attention back to the audio feed.

The attorney was sure she would eventually find out how the older woman managed to keep two very active boys completely occupied for an extended period of time. It was a skill set Tokio was very interested in acquiring. But that was something for later. Right now there were much more serious matters on which to focus.

Heavy gun fire, screams of pain, and then the very focused, grim voice of the love of her life asking for the ETA of the back-up units. She took in a sharp breath.

Hajime and Tokio just had a discussion that morning about the dangers that both of them faced due to their jobs, and now she was staring that reality right in the eye. The gray-eyed woman promised to raise the boys if anything happened to him, but that was not something she wanted to do so soon, or ever.

Strange disconcerting sounds, inhuman sounding at times, crackled through the com piece. Tokio glanced over at the captain to see a grim look on her face. The attorney had read enough police reports and had seen enough photographic evidence to understand what was happening. Users, their words and threats obscene in detail and intent. These drugs were outlawed and the police had no fair chance against such an onslaught.

_"Get behind me"  
"They're coming!" _

It was the Major and a woman. He always had been, and always would be a protector of those who could not protect themselves. This morning flashed into her mind when he helped that struggling mother and her little boy. The attorney didn't even notice that her heart rate had increased and her jaw muscles were tightened.

Exploding, crashing, breaking and shattering... It sounded like shattering glass, a lot of it.

Piercing sounds were loud enough to make the attorney want to rip the com piece out of her ear. But she didn't. She wouldn't. She needed to hear the rest.

Then there was the cry of a man in pain. It was hard to hear. Her heart cracked. She knew it was Hajime. Then silence. Not a sound. Nothing

As she removed her ear piece Tokio cast a distressed look to Karen. The older woman was worried, but she definitely needed to do some damage control for the sake of the bride-to-be. Karen had no desire to help this young one plan a memorial service. She didn't even want the gray-eyed attorney to think of where this raid could go.

"He'll be fine, Tokio. It will be okay."

"I know he will, Karen. I have confidence in his skills as a warrior." Just as she had so long ago. His strength and ability always allowed him to survive in the past. It should be the same in this time and place. That's what the young woman told herself, but it wasn't what her face reflected. Her face told a different story. It was cast with sorrow, with a resignation that what would be, would be.

Now Tokio had to wait, just like she had waited for him to return from a mission during their Meiji 1 marriage. This morning when they parted in the DOJ hallway, she was the one who looked back and he gave her a nod in return. If that was the last time they would see each other in this life, at least she got to see him one last time. Just as she told him this morning. It would be a truly cherished last memory of her husband. At least she would have their children to bring her comfort. She could see him so clearly in each of the boys.

All those morose thoughts were quickly tamped to the back of the attorney's mind. She was being an idiot, a moron he would say to her...and she knew she was. The younger woman looked at their family's cherished friend. It was time to get back to normal, or what should be normal for anyone's family.

"Karen, would you mind retrieving the boys from their room. I think it is time to start dinner."

"Be happy to," the woman replied, giving what Tokio knew was a look of reassurance and comfort before heading down the hall.

Tokio really had no idea when or if the Major would return this evening, But the boys needed to eat and she would have them help her with dinner preparations just as they did the night before.

Knowing the Major was in a fire fight, knowing he was in pain, but not knowing the outcome, made the young woman anxious. She tried not to let it show. She didn't want their boys to pick up on the fact that she was worried. How could she not be after being witness to that chaos? Tokio was glad that Karen was here. She needed another adult around. Hajime was in her thoughts, but she did not let what she was feeling distract her.

The attorney realized that when her husband was involved in an assignment that went the way this one did, she would not know about it. She was not happy that he was most likely injured, but she was grateful to have had the opportunity to witness what he faced on the streets of New Meiji with no more than the skills honed by his years of experience. When it came to facing criminals with drug enhanced physical strength, the odds were not in favor of the non-drug using police force.

It wasn't long before everyone was gathered in the kitchen with their cooking and table setting assignments given.

Tsuyoshi and Tsutomu were thrilled with their child-sized chef's aprons, emblazoned with a print of the New Meiji Samurai's mascot. They were cute aprons, and they would keep the boys clothes clean, the attorney hoped. Children could get dirty regardless of a parent's best executed plans.

Everyone was busy. Tsuyoshi was standing on a stool at the sink washing and drying the Mandarin oranges, that Tokio ordered today, before he carefully placed each one in the bowl on the counter.

There were still cucumbers to clean. That was another perfect job for Tsuyoshi, along with scooping some spoonfuls of fresh shiro miso paste into the dashi when Grandma Karen was ready for it.

The sliced cucumbers would be served with a dollop of miso paste on the side. Of course the rice was already cooked and keeping warm in the appliance on the counter. How many times had Tokio stood over the wood-fired kamado waiting for the broth to boil in the donabe back in Meiji 1?

Tsutomu was setting the table while Grandma Karen used the fresh dashi concentrate and shiro miso to prepare the soup. Chopped mitsuba and enochi mushrooms were in a bowl on the counter ready to add.

In this era the grocers had healthy, prepared offerings. Tokio hoped that eventually she would have time to make her own dashi for miso soup, but today she was thankful Uwajimaya's had their own made-in-house brand of dashi concentrate. In addition to that, she bought some small packages of cleaned, ready to use enochi mushrooms and mitsuba. Regardless that they were labeled ready to use, she had Tsutomu rinse them before putting them into the bowl.

A block of firm tofu was ready to be cut into small pieces for the soup, something she was sure Tsutomu could handle after he set the table. Karen was close by to lend a hand if necessary.

There was still coffee in the pot in case Karen wanted more and the cup of sludge Tokio saved could be heated for the Major. Of course a pot of water was on a burner waiting for Hajime's return before receiving a large helping of fresh soba to heat.

The apron clad attorney seasoned the prime cuts of frozen rib-eye steaks after arranging them on a lined pan, for ease of cleanup. They were now waiting on the counter until it was time to put them into a very hot oven. Hajime would need to be home before they were cooked. She hoped he would be home soon.

The young attorney straighten up after bending over to pick up a piece of paper towel that dropped on the floor. She stretched, trying to get the kink out of her lower back. That kitchen chair sure did a number on it this morning. She took a moment to assess the kitchen situation. All was going smoothly, everyone was busy. A gentle smile graced her lips as she thought of the one who was missing. Her heart refused to ache. Deep down she knew he would come home.

Note: A donabe is a traditional clay Japanese cooking pot and a .kamado is a traditional Japanese stove.


	8. Chapter 8 The Wolf Returns

Chapter 8

**TEN MINUTES LATER**

Saitoh swore as he slowly got out of the sedan. While he'd done his best to clean his uniform at the station, he still reeked of alcohol, dried blood and sweat. The blood and sweat were not an issue. The alcohol was – on two counts.

The first, and far most pressing, was the fact that not only did he smell like the working end of a cheap bar, he'd accidentally ingested alcohol at the club. Saitoh closed the sedan door and stood there for a moment, trying to manage the sudden surge of agonizing need that tore through his body.

A brain that had gone without a drop of alcohol in over a year was threatening full rebellion as sleeping receptors that had been fine tuned from years of drinking and three years of rampant alcohol abuse roared back into existence, screaming for more. It hurt. It hurt like hell.

Saitoh stifled a groan and willed the awful burning in his throat to abate. While the physical impact of the accidental exposure was bad enough to nearly send him to his knees, the emotional and mental impact of his sobriety being so threatened was worse.

Karen was inside. His children were inside.

Tokio…

Saitoh closed his eyes as the second pressing issue became painfully manifest.

Tokio was inside. She was in the house; in the home they would soon share for the rest of their lives. He could smell that dinner was being fixed. She was waiting for him to return. He'd promised her that he would and had kept that part of his promise.

He had to get out of his uniform before it drove him mad and yet he remained frozen in place by the side of his sedan, one hand outstretched against the cool car roof to steady him.

(We're getting married in two days…) The woman he loved and was fighting to keep safe was risking so much in taking her place by his side. Out of necessity, they were moving rapidly and nearly in secret to wed. Her safety and the survival of two little boys was dependent on it. It was hardly an ideal situation and without the shared memories they both had from a lifetime ago, it would be an impossible one.

(What will she think?)

Normally he didn't give a rat's ass what anyone thought of him but _this_ was different and Tokio was proving in all the best sort of ways that she was the exception to the merciless life rules he'd imposed on himself. But this…this was pushing it.

(What will she do?)

They were getting married in two fucking days and he was returning home reeking of a substance that had nearly killed him and would certainly put their future stability and happiness in awful jeopardy. He didn't want her to think that he'd broken the vow he'd given her about retaining his honor and not falling back into a deadly cycle of substance abuse that had nearly taken everything and everyone dear to him.

A chill suddenly ran though him and took with it the worst of the burning sensation in his mind and throat. A memory of what he'd experienced in the club after being doused in alcohol and broken glass amid a hail of screams and gunfire came to him, a recollection of welcome, bracing coldness and perfect clarity.

(I didn't break my word to her, the children or to myself…)

Despite the accidental ingestion, Saitoh knew this to be true and despite his worries and fears about what his bride might think, he was absolutely sure in his knowledge that Tokio trusted him just as he trusted her. While their time together in this existence was still so new, nearly half a century of memories; a lifetime of love and solidarity and loyalty buoyed him up and gave him the strength to push away from the car and walk slowly to the entrance to his home.

Saitoh carefully opened the door. He looked, felt and smelled like hell and if the boys were around, he'd ask Tokio to see to it that they were occupied while he made his way to the master bathroom and got cleaned up. Tsutomu in particular should not and would not be given reason to worry.

Absent mindedly, Saitoh pushed blood stiffened bangs out of his eyes and stepped into the house.

She was there of course, waiting for him. Their eyes met.

**TOKIO**

As soon as she heard the door open, it hit her like a sledgehammer. The distinct, sharp smell of alcohol. Her heart nearly hit the floor, as a feeling of panic and dread gripped her. Gads. it wasn't only alcohol. It was the smell of blood, too, a smell that burned into her mind at the beginning of the Boshin War all those years ago. It was a smell she would never forget and it was always accompanied by the most horrible memories. Something had happened, something extremely disastrous had happened.

In her heart she could not, and would not, believe that he started drinking again, not with her and the children to return to each evening, not when she could keep in touch with him during their workday as she had done today. Not when he had promised her. A promise made was a promise kept, as far as both of them were concerned.

The attorney quickly glanced around the kitchen. The boys were still concentrating on their tasks, but Karen was looking at her with concern. The officer smelled it, too. Tokio suspected it wasn't only the alcohol, either. The prosecutor was sure Grandma Karen was aware of the blood. The older woman's nod motioned toward the bedroom end of the house. Again, the two women understood each other without saying a word.

The gray-eyed attorney stepped through the kitchen's wide entrance which opened to the hallway. He was standing before her, looking directly at her. His eyes were clear. His hair was crusted in blood. He reeked. It was as if someone had thrown him into a vat of whiskey. What happened Hajime? Her plea remained unspoken. Now was not the time. .

She closed the distance between them with a couple of short steps, throwing her arms around his neck, holding him close to her and whispering to him softly, "Let's get down to our room."

She released her hold on his neck, circling his waist with her right arm to usher him down the hall. The man needed to change. He needed to bathe. It was critical to get every trace of this vile substance off of him as soon as possible.

She would not ask what happened. She would wait for him to tell her. The smell on his lips when she hugged him around his neck was overwhelming. Once they were in private, she would do her best to kiss him so fiercely that it would erase every trace of that putrid liquid.

**SAITOH**

Tokio slipped her arm around his waist after whispering softly that he join her in what soon would be their bedroom. Had this been a normal situation, the second that the opportunity to get this beautiful woman remotely near anything resembling a bed had presented itself, he would have aggressively taken her up on the offer before she could change her mind.

Unfortunately, the situation was anything but normal. The moment their eyes had met, she'd laid herself bare (and not in the good way) before him. As an attorney, she had a poker face that could make gambling addicts light up incense and start chanting sutras for her favor. As a woman, as a wife in all but name, the worry in her pale face and the starkness in her grey eyes as she reached out to him were terrible tells. He could see the questions, hard cut and fully formed in her sharp mind and she was right and wise to ask them.

(This isn't the place for those questions…) His appearance was enough to leave Tokio shaken. He'd be damned if he scared his boys as well.

Quickly, he and Tokio walked down the hallway to the master bedroom, neither of them making a sound as they slipped past their little children and the Third Squad Captain who was keeping them distracted.

Once the door to the room was shut and locked, Saitoh reached out and caught the woman he loved by the crook of the arm before she could pull away from him.

"Tokio," Satioh kept his voice low, but his tone was imperative. He drew her to him, not letting her hand slip from his side, "listen to me," he reached up and gently cupped the side of her face. For all her ferociousness, it was sometimes easy to forget that she also held within her heart and body an all too human measure of fragility as well.

She was frightened.

"There was a gun battle at a night club this afternoon," He'd washed his hands at the station, but it hadn't been enough to erase the evidence of the gun battle that he'd survived only a few hours before. There was dried blood deeply embedded beneath his fingernails and his fingers stank of alcohol. It was a ghastly combination and she knew it as well as he did.

"My partner and I had to take shelter behind a bar. It was the only defensible position." Saitoh's expression was a study in sternness as he quickly, yet systematically recounted what had happened during the battle. She wanted him out of his uniform and he wanted out of it, but this had to come first. He held nothing back. It was not in his nature to shield her from the truth as it was not her nature to accept anything less than absolute candor.

"Tokio, I ingested alcohol," Saitoh stopped when he saw concern become anguish and pulled her closer so that his words and their impact could be better borne. "I spat out what I could, but it's in my system and my body is reacting violently to the exposure." This was an intimate embrace, with hardly any space between them. He was determined to state what had happened with absolutely honesty so that there'd be no opportunity for a gulf to form.

Without thinking, he bent down, wanting to kiss her, comfort her and barely stopped in time before she could taste the proof that he'd ingested a substance that could destroy everything they were fighting for. Moving his head away that the last second, he looked down at the somber woman in his arms. She was hurting. So was he. "I'm sorry."

**TOKIO**

Tokio listened intently to all he had to say. The attorney was relieved he survived that battle. She was so grateful that he revealed everything that happened at the bar. He did it without her having to ask. It made her feel very privileged and loved, because she knew it was not easy for him to share what he had.

The sound of shattering glass she heard in the audio feed...it all made sense now. It was the sound of glass bottles breaking, glass liquor bottles.

After his explanation he bent down as if to kiss her and then he pulled a way. No, her mind screamed! All she wanted to do was to try to kiss away his hurt and anguish.

_"I'm sorry."_

"No, Hajime, I am so sorry," he was hurting and it had nothing to do with the blood dried in his black hair, "you did not deserve this. It wasn't your fault." It made her hurt just as if someone had stabbed her with a knife. "You have worked so hard. Now to have this. I knew that something terrible had happened as soon as you got home." She really couldn't stop the tears that leaked from her eyes and trailed down her cheeks.

Then she slipped one arm around his neck, drawing him to her and kissing him fiercely, as though by her action, she could cleanse him of every trace of the residue of that vile, foul liquid.

With her other hand she started to unbutton his uniform jacket. He needed to get out of these clothes. She was glad the laundry center was at the end of the hall near the master bedroom.

**SAITOH**

Saitoh reluctantly broke the kiss before it had a chance to begin and stilled her hand that was undoing the fasteners on his uniform jacket.

"Tokio, stop. This isn't necessary."

She had to be able to taste the alcohol on his lips and smell it on his skin. Anywhere the alcohol had touched him was scalding in its intensity and when mixed with the coppery, sharp odor of dried and clotted blood that had soaked clear through his uniform to the body armor beneath it, the smell was enough drive a man insane and send any sensible woman running.

So why was Tokio being decidedly un-sensible about this? Saitoh looked down at her pale hand that was resting on his chest. The brief contact against this uniform jacket had already dirtied her hands with dried and caking blood. He frowned and rubbed his thumb across her fingers.

"You did nothing wrong, so quit apologizing," he said gruffly, glaring at the unwanted tears that were marring the lines of Tokio's pale face. "I'll be fine." A promise made was a promise kept. He would not fail her, the children or himself despite the setback. More tears fell. Tokio looked at him. She was in physical pain. Protective instincts surged up and then screamed with frustration when there was nothing he could do to keep her safe from this sorrow.

Memories welled up, of stumbling into the house after being shot during a routine traffic stop. Operating more on instinct that department protocol, he'd managed to make it home, before collapsing in the kitchen in front of a horrified young wife who burst into tears at the sight of him. To this day, he wasn't sure why he'd impulsively sought out the aid of his wife rather than going straight to the hospital. He'd deeply traumatized Yaso by doing so and in the aftermath of the shooting, what little enthusiasm she held for his chosen profession had vanished, leaving behind a deep sense of dread that he'd never been able to help her overcome. He'd tried to make things easier for her and had, unless absolutely necessary, always come in quickly and tended to his injuries privately rather than burdening a gentle woman who hated the smell of blood.

It was common knowledge that being married to a cop wasn't easy. The job, while essential, came with long hours and rotating schedules that could separate an officer from family for weeks at a time. The nature of the work was often brutal, a perfect counterpart to the violent, corrupt city that every New Meiji officer swore to serve and protect. Divorce rates in the force had always been high and the number of cops that lived to retirement age was notoriously low. No, being married to a police officer was not an easy burden for any spouse to bear. He'd attended far too many funerals not to see why.

"I can take care of myself," he said in what he was sure was an entirely reasonable manner, "you should go and see what the boys are up to. Karen's probably feeding them a fuck ton of candy as we speak." Determined to see the hateful tears vanish, Saitoh actually tried to smile at the woman, though it came out more of a grimace.

"Hajime," Tokio made an angry growling noise in the back of her throat that was both deeply arousing and rather concerning since it was clearly directed at him. Her eyes, tearstained as they might be, flashed steel sharp, "Quit being a moron."

And then she kissed him again. Being a crafty (and surprisingly strong) attorney-type woman, she threw both of her arms around his neck, making a strategic retreat to the bathroom an impossibility unless he dragged her right along with him.

Her soft mouth was merciless against his. She was hard. Unyielding. Possessive. Protective.

"Never tell me to leave your side, not if you know what's good for you," Tokio's expression was ferocious as she defiantly reached down and once again began to unbutton his uniform jacket, her movements experienced and sure. She'd done this before, Saitoh realized.

Many times.

Older memories, strong, icy ones surged up and consumed the unhappier ones. Images of falling off a horse, covered in blood began to coalesce in the forefront of his mind, recollections of infected wounds being cauterized with a fire heated tanto, of torn linen bandages smelling sweetly of honey and healing herbs ruthlessly devoured the sharp smell of alcohol and shame.

In every memory, **she** had been by his side, fearlessly facing both his mortality and hers. Truly a daughter of Aizu, she had never retreated from the horrors of war, famine or civil unrest. In a life of hardship, loss and massive change, Tokio had always been the one fixed constant in his existence and the only person he truly trusted since Okita was long dead by the time they wed. A final memory came to bear, the most powerful of them all. The woman he saw in his mind's eyes was old, silver haired and small and just as beautiful and fierce as she sat beside him in seiza as he coughed up his life's blood. As death took him, she'd been there, a sentinel that he loved more than life itself.

(I am a moron…) And with that welcome realization, Saitoh let himself fall back into the wellspring of memory past and present and kissed her back as a low growl began to form in his own throat, two octaves lower and as hard and sharp as a katana.

"I love you," he rasped harshly, his mouth as hard as hers was soft. The doubt, fear and despair that was insidiously gnawing at this sobriety and sanity iced over and once again, the burning that was now part and parcel of his life became bearable. Because of her. "I love you. So damn much."

And then, because he'd always been a man who preferred showing rather than saying, he shut the fuck up and went to town. Snarling possessively, he yanked Tokio up tight against him, hip to hip, heart to heart. The stink of alcohol was long gone. The scent of spilt blood remained. He was fine with that and so was she.

In seconds, his uniform jacket was undone and Tokio was yanking it off him with enough force that a couple of buttons went flying. Heedless of where the jacket fell, she attacked his shirt next, pulling it over his head, each tug punctuated by hot, incendiary kisses.

The body armor was a bit trickier. Fumbling with stiff fasteners, Tokio muttered a word that would not be admissible in a court of law or appreciated at a parent teacher conference. Saitoh grinned, remembering the first time she'd tried to don the lifesaving weaponry, and quickly divested himself of the heavy gear, his mouth never leaving hers.

Bare to the waist, the only thing touching his skin was clean air and Tokio's soft, cool fingers as they explored the planes and lines of his arms, stomach and back. When she grazed her nails along the jagged contours of a deep scar from the war, the corded muscles beneath his skin contracting sharply, eliciting a sharp hiss of pleasure on his part and breathy sigh of excitement on hers.

"I want you," Saitoh growled, no longer content to let Tokio set the pace of this unplanned but deeply needed encounter. Before the prosecutor could try and think of engaging in any sort of sneaky tactile negotiations, Saitoh had switched positions and had her up against the wall, pinning her wrists above her head with one hand. The other hand, the one he shot with, began undoing the heavy tactical utility belt around his hips.

Nearly mad with need, but still mindful that he had enough live ammunition in the belt to blow up the house, Saitoh carefully set the heavy utility belt and hostlers down on the chest of drawers by the door. The fact he managed to do this and keep Tokio from wriggling out of his grasp while he soundly kissed her was a testament to the merits of multitasking.

Where was he again?

Oh. Right. Guns.

Tokio was still armed. He could feel her shoulder hostler beneath the prim suit jacket she was wearing. She was also wearing the body armor he'd acquired for her. It was the damn sexiest outfit that the man could think of and he made sure she knew it. It was also in the way. She was thoughtful enough to point this out, once again showing her excellent sensibility.

He left Tokio to fiddle with the irritatingly small girly blouse buttons while he impatiently pulled the suit jacket past her shoulders. It joined his uniform jacket in a pile on the floor. As with his utility belt and hip holsters, Saitoh took his time undoing the shoulder holster that lovingly wrapped itself around the top left half of Tokio's chest, sheltering the space above her rapidly beating heart.

"This pleases me," Saitoh hummed his approval that her heart space was carefully hidden beneath ballistic grade combat body armor. He'd warned her to never go outside without it and to only take it off within the safety of their home. The fact she was honoring his wishes and in doing so, helping preserve her precious life made his stern heart sing. Carefully pulling the shoulder holster off, his hand lingered for a moment against the modest curve of her breast that even body armor wasn't able to completely hide.

Memory, that welcome companion that was making their rushed marriage manageable brought up yet another recollection. In the life before this one, his Tokio had been capable of defending herself and those she loved. She'd wielded a naginata in defense of her princess against the honorless ishin shishi dogs who dared defile the soil of her homeland. The fact that she was wearing body armor, a holster and knew the business end of a semi-automatic that could easily blow a man's head off was a sharp, welcome reminder the two hundred years had not softened the edges of her warrior spirit.

(I have a wife and a home I can return to…) Whether hale and whole or at the edge of death or struggling with sobriety, Saitoh realized that Tokio would always accept him as he came to her, arms outstretched in welcome.

"Tokio," Saitoh released her wrists and brought her close until her body armor was flush against his bare skin, "I swear on everything I hold dear," he bent down and kissed her softly, letting the contact linger, an unspoken apology for doubting her and himself, "I'll never ask you to leave my side again."

**TOKIO**

During their Meiji 1 marriage there was never a question as to whether she would help him when he returned home banged up, bleeding and in need of treatment. And there were times when he came home pretty banged up, to the point of needing stitches or cauterization if there was wasn't enough skin to draw together or if infection had set in.

The attorney could only speculate why he refused her today. It did not make her happy at all, and she told him as much in no uncertain words. Perhaps it was due to his first wife's reaction to these sorts of things. There was no way she could know. Sometimes her husband could be stubborn. However, she was very relieved that he finally came to his senses and realized who he was dealing with in this era. Maybe he finally remembered what she did for him in the past. Except for the alcohol severely threatening his sobriety, his wounds today were nothing like she had treated for him before. Today he barely had a scratch.

Telling Hajime to never again tell her to leave his side, had to have had an affect on the man because he did not stop her when she resumed unfastening the buttons on his uniform jacket. She was glad he was finally being sensible about this.

And then she heard ...

_"I love you...I love you. So damn much."_

She smiled brightly and appreciatively at him. She knew this, how could she not? But there was nothing like hearing those three, sweet words from the lips of the man you love.

Then giving him a serious look, her voice filled with emotion, she told him, "I love you, too, husband," more than he would ever be able to imagine, "I always have, I always will." Tokio punctuated her words with a very tender, lingering kiss. This man was her life. She moved her hand to rest over his heart briefly before continuing her mission to liberate him from the blood-soaked jacket that reeked of whiskey. She literally yanked it off of him once the buttons were free.

With his help the stinky, grimy clothing that had been on his upper torso, along with his body armor was finally on the floor, exposing his upper body to her. The clothing was marked for a date with the washer. He would need to wipe the blood off his body armor himself, since it was bit too much for her to handle. It had been far too long since she last ran her hands over his bare skin, so she took full advantage of this opportunity. In two days, she would be able to do it at will.

_"I want you,"_

A throaty purr was her response. She felt the same. It wont be long she thought.

Of course, he knew that she needed to take off her holster. The Major was only too happy and eager to assist her with that. He always managed to help her remove items of clothing in the most delightful way in the past and it was no different today. She truly looked forward to sealing their marriage commitment in another two days. Then things would finally be as they should.

The tender and fierce kisses they shared that late afternoon were testimony to and a reflection of the deep love and affection shared by two people who had spent a lifetime together, completely devoted and committed to each other.

Except for resuming normal marital relations, which would happen soon, Tokio felt that their relationship in this era was now whole. He accepted her into every aspect of his life as he had done in he past. That is the way it should be, just as it was all those years ago.

As he cocooned her in his arms, he spoke softly, lovingly.

_"Tokio, I swear on everything I hold dear, I'll never ask you to leave my side again."  
_  
For the gray-eyed attorney, it was a precious, heart melting moment to hear those words from the love of her life. "Thank you Hajime. Because I never will." She returned his kiss just as tenderly to emphasize the promise she just made to him. Not even death was able to tear them apart.

She left unspoken that if he ever did change his mind and tell her to leave, she would fight to stay. Tokio could see only one scenario where he might. It would be for her safety, but unless it involved her taking their children somewhere secure, while he fought a battle to keep their family safe, she would stay right beside him.

Body armor and most of the bloody clothing off, he reluctantly glanced toward the bathroom, not really wanting to leave the warmth of her arms, but realizing he needed to get cleaned up and they needed to get back to the kitchen where their family waited for them. As he turned to walk away from her, she reached out and gently touched his bare upper arm. "Hajime, I know you need to get out of the rest of your clothes, but before you do, will you please let me check your hair for glass shards?" The attorney remembered hearing glass shattering, a lot of it, this afternoon when she and Karen listened to the gun battle. It would be a miracle if none was imbedded in his scalp.

He nodded in agreement, thinking it was a sensible request on her part. He had no desire to slice a finger on a sharp piece of glass while he was washing his hair, or worse yet, rinse glass onto the shower floor where one of them might step on it. It would not do to have his wife cut the bottom of her foot when it could be prevented.

Before taking a seat on the chair that was next to the chest of drawers where he'd left their guns, he pulled it away from the wall so she could stand behind it. Once he was settled, Tokio went to work.

The attorney cupped one hand to hold the bits of glass, should she find any, and used her other hand to gently sort through his bloody, matted hair. She remembered how soft his short, black hair felt between her fingers when clean and dry. It was a delightful discovery she made the first morning in this house with him, especially because it felt just the same as it did so very long ago.

Carefully removing the small bits of glass she found tangled in his hair, reminded her of their first life together. It always gave her comfort to help care for his injuries and get him cleaned up. When he'd been caught near a building being blown to bits by cannon fire. she always checked his scalp and back for splinters of wood as soon as he returned home, occasionally needing to stitch up a deep gash on his back or somewhere else on his body.

There were other memories, too, more recent ones. (The two were now making shared memories in this era.) A few days ago he removed pieces of glass that were embedded in her skin by the car bomb. At the time he was also hurting, but she was too weak and shell-shocked to help him. But today she could give him that help, and it pleased her.

Thankfully, she didn't find many glass shards in his hair and what she found hadn't penetrated his skin. She was glad that none of it hit him in the eyes, wondering if he had been wearing tactical goggles. When she was finished she held her hand out for him to see what she found before dumping the small pieces in the nearby waste basket. He nodded, getting up and placing the chair back against the wall.

Before cleaning up he put the firearms and tactical supplies in the safe, while she slipped into the bathroom to wash the blood off her hands that rubbed off when she touched his uniform jacket. So much blood...she was glad it wasn't his. When her hands were clean, she returned to the bedroom where she asked him to help her our of her body armor. He smirked. This would not be the first time he had wrestled her out of this particular vest. As he removed her life-saving armor, she was flooded with the memory of the first time he helped her get into it. It would always be a fond recollection for her, except for Minato's ill kept, smelly office.

When he was done, Tokio thanked him with a tender kiss, telling him she would see him after he finished cleaning up. Before parting ways, they also shared a hug, her sports bra clad upper body melding perfectly with his solid, warm chest.

The bathroom door closed behind him only to open again briefly so he could deposit the rest of his dirty clothing on the bedroom floor. The attorney could hear water running. She hoped he would at least take a short soak in the tub. Even ten minutes would do wonders for his overtaxed muscles.

While he was in the bathroom, she hung the suit she wore to the office that day on a hanger on the empty side of the closet, noting a few smudges of blood that needed removing. The garment bag containing the dress she bought today was already hanging in there. When she returned home from work, she'd transferred her clothes from the guest room to their bedroom, so she changed into jeans and a sweater, the ones she wore to start this very long, but wonderful day.

After changing she gathered his blood and alcohol stained clothing from the floor, along with the apron she was wearing when he came home, and deposited them into the washer in the laundry center at the end of the hall. That New Meiji Samurai apron saved most of her suit, but in the process it took considerable collateral damage from his bloody jacket. Setting the machine on the heavy duty cycle, the attorney was thankful she thought to buy that laundry soaker which was so good at removing blood. Who knew she would need it so soon. She was glad the blood on the clothing was not his. In Meiji 1 it usually wasn't, either.

Tokio smiled brightly at her love of two lifetimes when he returned to her side. He was scrubbed clean and smelled fresh. It was a far cry from when he walked in from the garage stinking of alcohol and blood. Tokio reached for his hand, pulling him toward her for one last, lingering kiss before leaving their room to rejoin their family. From the smell wafting down the hall, Grandma Karen had finished preparing dinner...and it would be time to eat.

The couple was falling back into the rhythm of their former life together.

**See the Gumi_Reloaded story, The Princess and the Samurai, to see what happens next that evening in the Saitoh household.**


End file.
